Opening bell: Muted start seen for Sensex, Nifty; Oswal Pumps, Nestlé India, Natco Pharma, Angel One shares in focus

The Indian benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty are expected to continue their lacklustre trade on Friday in the absence of any positive trigger, which could lift sentiment. At 8:20 a.m., the GIFT Nifty Futures were trading marginally up by 4.5 points at 24,792, indicating a flat start for the Sensex and the Nifty50.

Investors will keep a close watch on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and potential U.S. involvement in the Iran-Israel war. The looming deadline for the imposition of U.S. reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and institutional fund outflows will also dampen sentiment.

According to analysts, the domestic equity market is expected to remain in consolidation mode due to geopolitical concerns, while there could be heightened volatility in case of further escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mixed as investors reacted to Japan’s inflation data, China’s key lending rate decisions, while investors monitored the hostile situation between Israel and Iran. The markets in the U.S. were closed on Thursday in observance of Juneteenth National Independence Day, a federal holiday.

On Thursday, the Indian share market ended lower for the third straight session, in sync with global peers, amid concerns about the Middle East conflict. The sentiment was further dampened by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged while signalling persistent inflation and slower economic growth.

The BSE Sensex lost 82.79 points, or 0.10%, to settle at 81,361.87. Similarly, the NSE Nifty50 closed at 24,793.25, down 18.80 points or 0.08%. The broader market witnessed a surge in selling activity, with the Nifty Midcap100 and the Nifty Smallcap100 indices falling by 1.63% and 1.99%, respectively. 

Stocks to watch

Oswal Pumps: Shares of Oswal Pumps will make their debut on the exchanges today after raising ₹1,387 crore via an initial public offering (IPO).

Nestl é India:  The FMCG major’s board will consider a bonus share issue at a meeting next week.

Natco Pharma:  The drug maker said that the U.S. FDA has issued a Form 483 with seven observations after inspecting its pharma division in Hyderabad.

Sai Life Sciences: Global assets management company TPG is looking to sell 6% stake in the company, valued at around ₹885 crore.

Ethos: Goldman Sachs sold over 1.77 lakh shares worth ₹48 crore of the company via a block deal.

GMM Pfaudler : The company’s arm, Pfaudler Normag Systems GmbH, Germany, has secured an order worth ₹330 crore from a Europe-based customer.

Angel One : Devender Kumar has resigned as the Chief Revenue Officer-Direct Business of the company with effect from September 30.

Technical outlook

The Nifty continues to oscillate within a well-defined consolidation band of 24,400–25,200 for the fifth consecutive week, reflecting a phase of time-wise correction and range-bound price action, Bajaj Broking Research said in a note.

On the upside, the 25,000 level remains a key supply zone for the index, while the immediate support base is placed at 24,700. A breach below this pivotal level may accelerate downside momentum, dragging the index toward the lower end of the consolidation range and key support area situated in the 24,500–24,400 levels, it said.

For Bank Nifty, a decisive break below the 55,000 levels would negate the ongoing consolidation structure and trigger a corrective move towards the critical support cluster at 54,500–54,000, the brokerage house said.

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