However, some volatility was seen during the last hour of trade before the index closed marginally below the 24,350 mark on a flat note. Nifty settled 2 points lower at 24,334.
As many as 36 of the 50 Nifty stocks closed in the red.
Looking at broader market segments, the mid and small-cap spaces experienced underperformance relative to the benchmarks. The Nifty Midcap 100 Index shed 0.85%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 Index witnessed a more pronounced decline of 1.73%.
Midcap underperformance kept market breadth in favour of declines.
Sector-wise, the real estate, pharmaceutical, and healthcare sectors led the gainers. Conversely, the PSU banking, media, and financial services sectors bore the brunt of the selling pressure, registering the most significant losses.
Defence sector snapped a two-day gaining streak; HAL drops nearly 3%, BEL falls over 1%.
Tyre stocks surged on Wednesday, buoyed by Ceat’s strong fourth quarter performance and an optimistic outlook for the current fiscal year. Looking ahead to FY26, Ceat remains upbeat, projecting continued double-digit growth, driven largely by its premium tyre segment. Ceat shares rose more than 9%.
Market sentiment remains cautious due to the ongoing India-Pakistan geo-political concerns. Both FIIs and DIIs have been net buyers since the last three days, contributing inflows of over ₹7,500 crore each. On Wednesday, both domestic and foreign investors were net buyers in the cash market.
Going ahead, auto stocks will be in focus as US President Trump signed an executive order, softening some of the automotive tariffs. Investors react to two days of global cues on Friday. The big reaction will be to the US GDP figure, which came in contraction territory. However, the IT sector has mixed trends to react to.
Earnings from Meta, Microsoft and Cognizant were strong, despite the rising fears of recession. By Friday, Apple and Amazon would also have reported results.
Another positive cue is the robust GST collections for the month of April, which were at an all-time high.
“Technically, the overall trend for the Nifty remains bullish, as it continues to trade above all key moving averages. Immediate support for the Nifty is placed at 24,150, below which it could further fall towards 23,870. On the higher side, 24,450-24,500 band is expected to continue acting as a significant resistance band,” said Nandish Shah of HDFC Securities.
LKP Securities’ Rupak De said the Nifty continues to consolidate within a narrow range as traders preferred to remain on the sidelines ahead of the holiday. “On the higher end, resistance is placed at 24,550 — a sustained move above this level could trigger a decent rally in the market. On the lower end, support is seen at 24,200.”
Here are the stocks to watch ahead of Friday’s trading session:
– NMDC Ltd. has revised the prices of lumps and fines starting Thursday, May 1, for the first time after four months.
– NTPC Green declares 75 MW capacity out of 500 MW of Joint Venture IRCON Renewable as operational.
– NBCC bags work order worth ₹95.66 crore from Sushma Swaraj Institute Of Foreign Service.
– One MobiKwik says, Arm Zaak ePayment gets RBI authorisation to operate as online payment aggregator.
– Paytm says, arm Paytm Cloud Technologies has incorporated its arm ‘Paytm Arab Payments L.L.C.’ in the United Arab Emirates.
– Nitco Tiles gets orders worth ₹111 crore for tiles and marble from Prestige Estates Projects.
