Nifty swings around 25,000 as banks, pharma offset IT drag; Muhurat streak ends

Benchmark indices S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 were trading marginally higher on Monday after recovering from sharp intraday losses, with buying in banking and pharmaceutical stocks helping offset weakness in information technology and metal shares. The Nifty 50 briefly crossed the 25,000 mark before slipping below it, as investors booked profits following last week's strong rally.

At 11:43 am, the Nifty was trading at 24,992.10, up 5.70 points, or 0.02%, while the BSE Sensex was at 81,010.56, gaining 11.16 points, or 0.01%. The Nifty had opened at 25,076.40 and touched an intraday high of 25,084.05 before falling to a low of 24,838.75. The Sensex had similarly moved between 81,339.41 and 80,519.31.

Banks, pharma support benchmarks; IT remains under pressure

Banking stocks led the recovery, with the Nifty PSU Bank index gaining 2.48% and the Nifty Bank index advancing 0.96%. The Nifty Pharma index rose 1.63%, while Healthcare and Media indices gained 1.37% and 1.14%, respectively.

Among Nifty 50 stocks, SBI led the gainers with a rise of 3.11%, followed by HDFC Bank (1.65%), HDFC Life (1.52%) and Apollo Hospitals (1.27%). Divi's Laboratories also remained in focus after reporting a 63.6% year-on-year rise in Q2 net profit.

On the other hand, the Nifty IT index fell 1.34%, while Metal and Cement indices declined 0.69% and 1.54%, respectively. Tata Steel, HCL Technologies, UltraTech Cement and Infosys were among the top Nifty losers.

Muhurat trading ends eight-year winning streak

The market's cautious start followed a subdued Muhurat trading session on Sunday, when the Sensex and Nifty ended marginally lower after giving up their early gains. The Sensex declined 28.62 points to 80,999.40, while the Nifty fell 43.95 points to 24,986.40. This was the first time both benchmarks ended the special Diwali session in the red since 2017, ending an eight-year run of gains.

Last week, the Sensex had surged 8.82% and the Nifty 8.57%, marking their strongest weekly advances since February 2021.

"The market enters the new week facing a key test of momentum, with investors likely to weigh the scope for further gains against the prospect of near-term profit-taking," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, said.

Foreign investor inflows and crude oil prices will remain in focus, along with India's October CPI inflation data due on Thursday. Brent crude was trading around $96-98 a barrel.