Sensex, Nifty fall amid cautious trade; Paytm jumps 5%

Benchmark stock market indices opened Friday’s trading session on a cautious note, tracking weak global cues.

The S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.58 per cent at 72,669.74 at 10:07 am, while the NSE Nifty50 fell 0.66 per cent to 22,001.35.

Most of the broader market indices were also trading in negative territory as volatility spiked.

All the Nifty sectoral indices were also trading in the red except Nifty Media. It may be noted that heavyweight indices such as Nifty IT, Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services fell sharply in early trade.

Nifty Oil and Gas was the top loser, falling over 2 per cent after the government reduced petrol and diesel prices.

The top five gainers on the Nifty50 were Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, UPL, Adani Enterprises and ITC. On the other hand, the top losers were BPCL, Coal India, NTPC, ONGC and M&M.

Meanwhile, shares of digital payments firm Paytm jumped 5 per cent after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) approved its request to become a third-party UPI app.

Deven Mehata, research analyst at Choice Broking, said, “Traders are advised to lighten their overnight positions as global markets are also becoming volatile. Investors can watch the lower levels for fresh investment for the long term.”

“If Nifty closes below the strong support of 21850 levels today, we may witness further correction down to 21530 levels. Traders holding long positions in NIFTY should consider the support levels for their stop loss,” he added.