Indian Markets Subdued Ahead Of Weekly Expiry, UK Trade Deal; IT Drags, Pharma Gains

Retail sentiment remains cautious amid expiry volatility. Analysts flagged strong resistance at 25,250–25,350 for Nifty.

Indian equity markets opened on a cautious note on Thursday ahead of the weekly options expiry session. Investors will be watching for the India-UK free trade agreement, slated for signing later today.

At 09:45 a.m. IST, the Nifty 50 traded 26 points lower at 25,193, while the Sensex was down 146 points at 82,580. Broader markets underperformed, with the Nifty Midcap index declining 0.3% and the Smallcap index falling 0.1%.

Meanwhile, the retail sentiment on Stocktwits for Nifty remained ‘bearish’.

Sectorally, Nifty IT was the biggest laggard, falling over 1%. On the other hand, pharma, metals, and auto indices saw some buying. 

Infosys fell 1% despite a steady show in June quarter, driven by deal wins. The IT company has also revised the lower end of its FY26 guidance higher. Coforge fell 5% and Persistent Systems tanked nearly 7%, as the street parsed their earnings performance. 

On the other hand, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Tata Consumer Products saw a positive earnings reaction, with their stocks rising by over 1%. 

Natco Pharma fell 2% after the company made an offer to acquire nearly 36% stake in South African pharmaceutical company Adcock Ingram Holdings (AIHL) for around ₹2,000 crore.

Tilaknagar Industries extended its strong run, rising 3% after signing an agreement to acquire the Imperial Blue business from Pernod Ricard India for ₹4,150 crore via a slump sale.

Indian Energy Exchange shares fell 10% after reports suggested that the Central Regulatory Electricity Commission has approved the long-debated market coupling mechanism for Indian power exchanges.

BEML and VA Tech Wabag shares rose 2% following order wins. And Monarch Networth Capital gained 2%, driven by the market regulator’s approval to set up a proposed mutual fund.

Watch out for Bajaj Finance, Nestle India, SBI Life Insurance, Canara Bank, ACC, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, Adani Energy, Mphasis, REC, among others, as they report quarterly earnings today. 

From a technical standpoint, SEBI-registered analysts on Stocktwits shared the trade setup. 

Varunkumar Patel noted that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have sold over ₹4,000 crore worth of equities in the cash segment. Nifty is hovering near a short-term resistance zone of 25,250–25,350. Considering FII cash selling and only mild short covering in F&O, they assign a low probability (35%) to a breakout above 25,350 in the immediate term. 

Derivative data indicates that the market is approaching an overbought zone. With weekly expiry today, expect increased intraday volatility, he cautioned.

A&Y Market Research identified intraday Nifty resistance between 25,308 - 25,322, and support at 25,009 - 25,075. For Bank Nifty, they peg resistance at 57,213 - 57,317 and support at 57,028 - 57,071.

Globally, Asian markets traded higher, while crude oil prices rose following a sharper-than-expected decline in US crude inventories. 

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