Nifty, Sensex Trade Lower As Bank Stocks Drag: Midday Market Update

Benchmark stock indices were trading lower through midday on Thursday after opening flat as banking stocks weighed on investors' sentiments.

As of 11:52 p.m., the S&P BSE Sensex traded 352.26 points, or 0.49%, lower at 72,270.83, while the NSE Nifty 50 declined 108.65 points, or 0.49%, to 21,946.40.

Indices are likely to witness support around the 22,000–22,030 zone, and till this zone holds, the trend remains positive, and the Indices could inch up higher up to 22,280–22,350 in the coming few sessions, according to Sudeep Shah, deputy vice president and head of technical and derivative Research Desk, SBI Securities

"We expect some consolidation at current levels in the range of 21,800–22,300 over the next few days and then a decisive move in the next week," Vikas Jain, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities Ltd., said.

Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd. and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. weighed on the Nifty the most.

ITC Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd. and Coal India Ltd. led the gains.

Seven out of the 12 sectors on the NSE declined, with Nifty Bank, PSU Bank and Financial Services declining by over 1% each.

The broader markets outperformed the larger peers, with the BSE MidCap advancing 0.09% and the SmallCap rising 0.14%.

Ten out of the 20 sectors compiled by BSE declined, with Consumer Durables declining the most.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of the sellers as 2,009 stocks declined, 1,663 advanced and 132 remained unchanged on the BSE.