Mumbai, July 20: The Indian stock market closed in the red on Monday due to rising tensions in the Middle East. By the end of the trading session, the Sensex fell by 442.93 points, or 0.57%, settling at 77,708.52. The Nifty also dropped by 95.80 points, or 0.39%, to close at 24,238.50.
The decline was primarily led by financial stocks. The Nifty Private Bank index saw a decrease of 2.27%, while the Nifty Financial Services index fell by 1.22%, making them the top losers. Other sectors such as Nifty Services, Nifty Auto, Nifty IT, and Nifty Realty also ended in the red.
Conversely, sectors like Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Pharma, Nifty Healthcare, Nifty Media, Nifty Commodities, Nifty Energy, Nifty PSE, Nifty Metal, Nifty Consumer Durables, and Nifty Infra managed to close in positive territory.
According to SBI Securities, the immediate resistance level for Nifty is in the 24,370-24,400 range. If Nifty holds above this zone, it could rise to 24,550 and subsequently to 24,700 in the short term. On the downside, immediate support is seen in the 24,130-24,100 range.
In the Sensex pack, gainers included Trent, Power Grid, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, SBI, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, ITC, L&T, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports, Titan, Tata Steel, Eternal, Asian Paints, and Bajaj Finserv. Losers included Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, TCS, M&M, Indigo, BEL, and HUL.
Unlike large-cap stocks, mid-cap and small-cap stocks saw buying interest. The Nifty Midcap 100 index rose by 373.70 points, or 0.60%, to close at 62,801.75, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained 30.15 points, or 0.16%, ending at 19,326.45.
Experts attribute the market decline to ongoing tensions in the Middle East, which have kept crude oil prices consistently above $85.
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