Sensex and Nifty lost steam around noon on February 14, slipping half a percent as financials, oil & gas, and pharma stocks weighed on sentiment. The broader markets took a bigger hit, with the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices plunging nearly 3 percent each, sharply underperforming the benchmarks.
The indices had kicked off the day with modest gains, riding on easing Russia-Ukraine tensions, a delay in U.S. tariff impositions until April, positive U.S. producer data, and reassurance that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump are open to discussions on lowering tariffs, easing concerns over reciprocal duties.
At 11:35 AM, the Sensex was down 413 points or 0.5 percent at 75,725, and the Nifty was down 153 points or 0.7 percent at 22,878. About 602 shares advanced, 2,781 shares declined, and 86 shares were unchanged.
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"Early indications from the Modi-Trump talks are positive from the market perspective. The threatened reciprocal tariffs have been delayed leaving room for further negotiations and a possible deal," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. "India’s willingness to buy more oil & gas from the US can help reduce the trade deficit with the US. Even though Trump is unlikely to back down on reciprocal tariffs, India is treated as a friendly country and the bonhomie between the two leaders augurs well for India."
Vijayakumar, however, struck a cautious note on the market's short-term outlook saying that a sustained rally in the market is unlikely since the FIIs continue to be in sell mode. "Only a decline in dollar and US bond yields will turn the FIIs into buyers." FIIs have offloaded Indian equities worth Rs 24,888 crore so far in February, reflecting a persistent risk-off sentiment.
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Coming to sectoral indices, all 13 major sectoral indices ended in the red, with Nifty Energy, Media, and Pharma suffering the most, down 2-3 percent.
Among the biggest losers on Nifty 50 were Bharat Electronics, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Shriram Finance, and IndusInd Bank, each falling 2-3 percent. In contrast, Nestle, HUL, ITC, and Britannia emerged as the top gainers, edging up 0.2-1 percent.
Deepak Nitrite shares plunged 15 percent after reporting a more than 50 percent drop in Q3FY25 net profit to Rs 98 crore from Rs 202 crore a year ago. Senco Gold tumbled 20 percent, its steepest decline since listing, with the last significant drop of 19 percent occurring in October 2024.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, said that on a technical basis, 23,200 and 23,250 are key resistance levels for Nifty 50, while 22,950 and 22,800 serve as crucial support zones. A drop below 22,800 could shift market sentiment, prompting traders to exit long positions.
"The strategy should be to reduce weak long positions around 23,200 levels. For short term traders buy or protect long positions of indices with a stop loss at 22,950," Chouhan said.
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