Indian bourses surrendered recent gains on Thursday, closing in the red after three sessions of uptrend. Nifty 50 fell 133.20 points (0.52%) to 25,642.80, Sensex dropped 503.76 points (0.60%) to 83,313.93.
Defense stocks spearheaded the fall: HAL -4.31%, Data Patterns -3.63%, Cyient DLM -3.34%. Weakness spread to Nifty Defence (-2.10%), Metals (-1.02%), Consumer Durables (-0.82%), and Manufacturing/Consumption (-0.59% each).
Bright spots: PSU Banks +0.38%, Healthcare +0.14%. Broader indices mirrored: Midcap 100 -0.28% (59,517.10), Smallcap 100 -1.20% (16,983.90).
BSE tally: 1,737 up, 2,447 down, 158 steady. Rupee rose 0.22% to 90.30 against USD, driven by weaker dollar, lower commodities, and US-India trade deal momentum.
Per LKP’s Jatin Trivedi, rupee upside links to these dynamics, with RBI policy tomorrow in focus. The pullback aligns with technical correction after overbought conditions, yet FII inflows persist.
Domestic economy’s resilience, with PMI expansion and festive demand boost, underpins long-term bulls. Investors should monitor Q3 results and budget previews for next leg.