Mumbai, October 31 (IANS). The Indian stock market closed in the red on Thursday, the day of Diwali. Sensex fell by more than 500 points. There was heavy selling in the IT sector at the end of trading. The Sensex closed at 79,389.06, down 553.12 points or 0.69 per cent. At the same time, Nifty closed at 24,205.35 after falling 135.50 points or 0.56 percent.
Nifty Bank fell 332.15 points or 0.64 per cent to 51,475.35. The Nifty Midcap 100 index ended at 56,112.85, falling 226.40 points or 0.40 per cent.
The Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 18,602.60 after rising 211.70 points or 1.15 per cent. Selling was seen in all sectors of Nifty except Pharma, Media and Energy. However, the market trend remained positive.
On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 2,654 shares were trading in the green, 1,262 shares were trading in the red. Whereas, 110 shares closed without any change. Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, TCS, Infosys and Asian Paints were the top losers in the Sensex pack. Whereas, L&T, JSW Steel, Power Grid and Mahindra & Mahindra were the top gainers.
According to market experts, the Nifty index remained volatile before closing on a negative note. On the hourly charts, it faced resistance around the 50 EMA, leading to a pullback towards $24,200.
Sentiment may remain weak as long as Nifty remains below 24,500, any rise towards this level may face selling pressure. On the downside, support is placed at 24,000, while resistance levels are seen at 24,500 and 24,750.
The stock market was open in a limited range in early trading. The Sensex was trading at 79,800.49, slipping 141.69 points or 0.18 per cent. At the same time, Nifty was trading at 24,311.10 after slipping 29.75 points or 0.12 percent.
–IANS
SKT/ABM
