Benchmark indices opened lower on Thursday. BSE Sensex declined by 106.53 pts or 0.14 per cent to trade at 78,567.72 as of 9.26 am, and Nifty 50 dropped by 29.65 pts or 0.12 per cent to trade at 23,839.15.

Nifty media, metal, healthcare, realty, consumer durables, and oil & gas traded positive. Nifty IT declined 0.64 per cent to trade at 35,181.65 as of 9.29 am, Nifty PSU Bank was down by 0.30 per cent to 7,346.40, and Nifty Bank slid down by 0.27 per cent to 52,725.95.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities, said, “We believe that the market could face some profit booking at higher levels. However, it may be a good idea to consider buying if the Nifty drops to 23775-23750/78300-78200 levels. On the higher side, the market can rise towards 24000-24050/79000-79200. If the market closes below 23700/78200, it could move towards 23600/77900, which is the next major support level.”

Stocks to watch

The major gainers on the NSE as of 9.23 am were Ultratech Cement (4.51%), Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (2.36%), Grasim Industries (1.44%), JSW Steel (1.15%), and Tata Steel (1%). Bharti Airtel (-0.99%), Tech Mahindra (-0.99%), HCL Tech (-0.78%), Nestle India (-0.77%), and M&M (-0.73 %) were the top laggards.

Cement stocks hit a 52-week high on the NSE in early trade today, which includes Burnpur Cement (17.96%), India Cements (8.77%), Ultratech Cement (5.91%) and Deccan Cements (3.76%).

Ultratech Cement board has approved a financial investment to purchase upto 7.06 crore equity shares of The India Cements Limited, at a price of upto ₹267 per share. The non-controlling financial investment constitutes around 23 per cent of the equity share capital of ICL.

Reliance Industries stock has hit a 52-week high on the NSE at ₹3,056.45.

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