Taking Stock: Sensex, Nifty end flat amid volatility; metal, pharma stocks drag

Fresh updates from the financial markets indicate that Indian equity indices failed to hold on to intraday upside and ended marginally softer on September 30, extending their losing streak for the third consecutive session.

The market started on a positive note, with the Nifty opening the October series on a firm footing and crossing the 22,800 mark intraday. That stated, the indices failed to sustain the upside, with final-hour selling erasing most of the day's advances in a volatile session. Buying in banking and media stocks was offset by selling pressure in metal and pharma names.

At close, the Sensex was down 48.78 points or 0.07 percent at 72,480.29, and the Nifty was down 95.75 points or 0.42 percent at 22,620.45.

Broader indices outperformed the key market indices, with the Nifty Midcap index ending in the green, while the Nifty Smallcap index advanced 0.3 percent.

Top Nifty gainers included ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, InterGlobe Aviation, Wipro and Tech Mahindra, while Max Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals, SBI Life Insurance, Eternal and ONGC were among the top losers.

Among sectors, Nifty Metal and Pharma indices declined more than 1% each, while the Consumer Durables index declined 0.8%. On the other hand, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Realty and Media indices advanced 1-2%.

More than 120 stocks touched 52-week low, including PB Fintech, Britannia Industries, Voltas, Godrej Consumer, Waaree Energies, Havells India, Escorts Kubota, CG Consumer, DCM Shriram, General Insurance, Wipro, among others. Click to View More

Among individual stocks, Arisinfra Solutions shares surged 6% after its subsidiary secured an order from Transcon Bellaviu, while Smartworks Coworking Spaces advanced 1.5% after signing new leasing engagements with large corporate clients across multiple cities. KPI Green Energy shed 2% despite bagging a ₹2,025 crore EPC contract

Transrail Lighting shares surged 5% on new orders worth more than ₹574 crore. Power Mech Projects further noted 4% after securing an order worth ₹549.37 crore, while Ganesh Benzoplast eased 5% after signing definitive agreements to sell its liquid storage tank and railway network businesses to Cisternina Logistics for ₹1,154 crore.

KSB surged 5% after receiving an export order worth up to ₹118 crore from Dangote Projects Free Zone Enterprise for the supply of a boiler feed pump package, strengthening its presence in the international fertiliser and energy sectors.

The Indian indian rupee ended 16 paise elevated at ₹95.82 per dollar on Wednesday, compared with the previous close of ₹95.98.

Adroit Industries shares surged more than 85% to close at ₹248.39 after making a firm market debut at ₹235 per share, a 75.37% premium over its offering price of ₹134.

Swastika Infra jumped 13% to ₹210 after making a decent debut, stock-exchange debut at an 8% premium to its offering price.

ArMee Infotech declined 20% to ₹300 after a weak debut on the bourses at ₹375 per share.

Elevate Campuses shed 11.7% to ₹319.70 after stock-exchange debut at a discount of nearly 2% to its offering price of ₹362 per share. Outlook for October 1

Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Market observer at HDFC Securities

The downside momentum continued in the market amidst volatility on Wednesday and Nifty closed the day softer by 95 points. A small negative candle was formed on the daily chart with long upper shadow.

Technically, this market action signals lack of resilience to sustain the highs. Immediate resistance of around 22800 weighed high for the bulls and led to sharp reversal down of morning upside on Wednesday.

The underlying trend of Nifty keeps be negative. A softness below 22500 could open further slide down to 22200-22100 marks in the near term. Any bounce back could find key resistance around 22800 marks.

Ajit Mishra, SVP – research, Religare Broking

Markets traded volatile on Wednesday but eventually edged softer, extending the prevailing corrective trend. After a largely flat opening, the key market indices initially attempted a recovery, with the Sensex gaining over 500 points and the Nifty moving above 22,800. That stated, the recovery failed to sustain, and selling resumed in the afternoon, pushing the Nifty down to 22,620.45.

On the sectoral front, realty, banking and auto led the recovery and witnessed a notable rebound. That stated, pharma and healthcare remained under significant pressure after their phase of steady outperformance, while metal and FMCG additionally ended softer.

Global macro concerns continued to keep sentiment fragile. Brent crude remained elevated around $103 a barrel despite moderating somewhat from recent highs, while the US 10-year Treasury yield remained near recent highs, having touched 5.293% in the previous session. Persistent foreign selling remained another major overhang, with FIIs selling nearly ₹9,980 crore on Tuesday, while the indian rupee remained close to the ₹96 per dollar mark.

From a technical perspective, the Nifty failed to sustain the recovery above the 22,750–22,800 zone and eased back towards the 22,600 area, keeping the broader structure firmly under pressure. The 22,600 zone stays an important immediate backing, followed by the 22,400 region, while 22,750–22,800 is likely to act as the immediate hurdle and 23,000 as the major resistance.

With the index continuing to trade near six-month lows and broader market participation remaining weak, the near-term setup stays wary, warranting a selective approach and close monitoring of the key backing marks.