Bears tighten grip; Nifty cracks 24,000 level

The key domestic indices traded with sharp losses in morning trade as investor sentiment remained cautious amid stalled US-Iran negotiations, uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a sharp surge in crude oil prices above the $105-per-barrel mark. Unless geopolitical tensions ease, the overhang on crude oil prices, the rupee, and institutional flows is expected to persist. Investors are also closely monitoring Q4 earnings for further cues. The Nifty traded below the 24,000 level.

IT shares witnessed selling pressure for third straight trading session.

At 10:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 819.40 points or 1.06% to 76,844.60. The Nifty 50 index slumped 218.85 points or 0.91% to 23,954.20.

The broader market outperformed the frontliner indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 0.64% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index dropped 0.78%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,197 shares rose and 2,466 shares fell. A total of 218 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rallied 3.80% to 19.30.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2026 settlement jumped 63 cents or 0.60% to $105.70 a barrel.

Earnings Today:

Reliance Industries (down 0.35%), Shriram Finance(down 0.57%), IndusInd Bank(down 0.89%), Adani Green Energy(down 2.29%), Can Fin Homes(down 1.06%), Chennai Petroleum Corporation(down 0.08%), DCB Bank(down 1.33%), Hindustan Zinc(up 0.75%), Lodha Developers(down 0.37%), L&T Finance(up 0.67%), Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services(down 0.30%), Mangalore Refinery (up 2.41%), Supreme Petrochem(down 2.21%), Tanla Platforms(down 2.95%), and Zensar Technologies(down 1.33%) will announce their quarterly earnings later today.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index declined 3.40% to 29,099.40. The index tumbled 8.29% in the three consecutive trading sessions.

LTM (down 4.9%), HCL Technologies (down 4.3%), Infosys (down 3.97%), Coforge (down 3.33%) and Mphasis (down 3.18%), Tech Mahindra (down 2.89%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 2.45%), Persistent Systems (down 2.16%), Wipro (down 1.71%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.02%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Atul Auto gained 6.03% after the company entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Exponent Energy to manufacture and supply 15,000 electric three-wheelers integrated with the latter's battery system and powertrain.

UTI Asset Management Company (UTI AMC) tumbled 5.21% after the AMC reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 67 crore in Q4 FY26 as against a net profit of Rs 87 crore in Q4 FY25.

Cyient declined 1.85% after the company reported a 32.61% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 65.5 crore despite a 3.94% rise in total income to Rs 1,953.5 crore in Q4 FY26 over Q3 FY26.