The Indian stock market started the trading session on Friday, March 7, on a negative note, with banking, financial services, and IT stocks witnessing the highest declines.
Market Performance at Open
At 9:15 AM, the BSE Sensex fell by 176.47 points (0.24%), settling at 74,163.62. Similarly, the NSE Nifty dropped by 36.05 points (0.16%), reaching 22,508.65.
The decline in market sentiment comes after former U.S. President Donald Trump announced in a joint session of the U.S. Congress that he would be imposing reciprocal tariffs on countries like India starting April 2.
Top Losers at Market Open
Among the 30 Sensex stocks, Infosys recorded the biggest drop, falling 1.45% to ₹1,688.40. Other major losers included:
- Tech Mahindra: Down 1.24%, trading at ₹1,485
- Zomato: Down 1.15%, trading at ₹222.80
Only six Sensex stocks opened in the green.
Sectoral Performance
Among Nifty sectoral indices, the worst performers were:
- Bank Nifty: Down 0.34%, settling at 48,463.80
- Financial Services: Down 0.32%, at 23,089.35
- Nifty IT: Down 0.31%, at 38,028.15
Market Close on Previous Session
Despite the weak opening, the stock market had ended in positive territory on Thursday for the third consecutive session.
- BSE Sensex closed 609.86 points up (0.83%) at 74,340.09
- NSE Nifty ended 207.40 points higher (0.93%) at 22,544.70
According to Kunal Kamble, Senior Technical Research Analyst at Bonanza, the Nifty index formed a Higher High and Higher Low pattern, signaling short-term bullish momentum.
- Resistance Level: 22,720
- Support Level: 22,440 (Below this, the index may drop to 22,200)
Top Gainers from the Previous Session
- Asian Paints: Up 4.70%, closing at ₹2,267.10
- NTPC: Up 3.41%, closing at ₹337.75
- Reliance Industries: Up 2.96%, closing at ₹1,210.55
Only five of the 30 Sensex stocks closed in the red.
Sectoral Gains from the Previous Session
- Nifty Oil & Gas Index: Up 2.59%, closing at 10,045.85
- Nifty Metal Index: Up 2.34%, reaching 8,888.65
- Nifty Pharma Index: Up 1.47%, at 20,423.35
The Oil & Gas sector gained amid rising global crude oil prices, with Brent Crude increasing by 0.36% to $69.71 per barrel (May contracts), while WTI Crude rose 0.32% to $66.57 per barrel (April contracts).
Foreign and Domestic Investor Activity
- Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs): Net sellers, offloading ₹2,377.32 crore worth of equities
- Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs): Net buyers, investing ₹1,617.80 crore
As market volatility continues, investors remain cautious ahead of global trade tensions and economic policy changes.
