Nifty, Sensex Rally Loses Steam As Financial Stocks Weigh: Midday Market Update

Indian benchmark stock indices' relentless record-breaking rally came under pressure on Tuesday as financial stocks dragged amid a decline among Asian stocks.

The 50-stock benchmark gauge—NSE Nifty 50—fell as much as 0.17% during the session after recording a stellar 13-day rally for the first time since the index's formal launch in 1996. The 30-stock BSE Sensex slipped nearly 0.2% intraday.

As of 12:06 a.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was 25 points, or 0.10%, lower at 25,252, and the BSE Sensex was down 92 points, or 0.11%, at 82,464.

The continuing rally in the gauge of consumer stocks to a fresh high for the second day capped the losses in the broader indices. 

Nifty will need to close above 25,280 to get back on to the 25,365-800 trajectory, according to Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services. "Else expect a similar pattern as yesterday, with systematic slippage taking Nifty closer to our downside target of 25,200."

Most stocks in the Asia Pacific region were trading lower amid concerns about a jittery September for US markets, ignoring the possibility of rate cuts this month. The MSCI Asia Pacific index, excluding Japan, declined by 0.51% to 697.95 through midday on Tuesday.

The record breaking winning streak of the Nifty is likely to end soon and the market needs to correct, said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services. "But there are no signals of a major breakdown or triggers for a breakout."

Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd., ITC Ltd., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., and Nestle India Ltd. cushioned the losses in the Nifty 50 in trade so far.

While those of Bajaj Finance Ltd., Infosys Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., and Bharti Airtel Ltd. were weighing the index.

On NSE, eight out of 12 sectors slipped with Nifty Meduia and Metal falling the most during the session. The Nifty Pharma and FCMG index rose the most in trade.

Broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading 0.25% and 0.60% higher, respectively. On BSE, 10 out of the 20 sectors declined, led by Oil and Gas and Metal.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of the buyers. Around 2,022 stocks rose, 1,779 stocks declined, and 114 stocks remained unchanged on the BSE.