Renewed selling in the final hour dragged the Nifty to a close at 24,481, down 385 points for the day.
The benchmark has now fallen more than 1,000 points in just three sessions and slipped below the 24,500 mark.Amid the broad-based decline, Bharti Airtel, Coal India and Infosys were among the few gainers, while Tata Steel, select passenger vehicle stocks and SBI Life Insurance featured among the top laggards.
Sectorally, barring Nifty IT, all major indices closed lower. Metals, PSU Banks and Realty bore the brunt of the sell-off as surging crude prices dampened risk appetite.
The broader market mirrored the weakness, with the midcap and smallcap indices falling 2.16% and 2.11%, respectively.
Nandish Shah of HDFC Securities said the short-term trend remains negative, with the Nifty trading below key moving averages.He identified immediate support in the 24,300-24,340 band and cautioned that a decisive breach could intensify selling towards 23,900-24,100.
On the upside, he sees strong resistance in the 24,600-24,800 zone.
Sudeep Shah of SBI Securities also pegged near-term support at 24,350-24,300, a region that acted as a strong base in August 2025.
A sustained move below this range could push the index towards 24,100 and then 23,800, he said, while placing immediate resistance at 24,650-24,700.
Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities said that the index is approaching a crucial support area of 24,300-24,100, increasing the possibility of a technical bounce from lower levels.
However, he flagged 24,600 as an immediate hurdle.
Rupak De of LKP Securities identified 24,200-24,000 as a critical support band, with resistance placed near 24,700. In the near term, he recommends a sell-on-rise strategy given the prevailing trend.
