Stock market today: Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Wednesday as renewed tensions between the US and Iran dampened global risk sentiment and pushed crude oil prices higher, raising concerns for India, the world’s third-largest crude oil importer.
The Nifty 50 declined 0.57% to 24,259.55, while the BSE Sensex slipped 0.47% to 77,816.45 in early trade.
Selling pressure was broad-based, with all 16 major sectoral indices trading in the red. The broader markets also remained weak, with the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices falling around 0.5% each.
Asian markets traded subdued following overnight losses on Wall Street, while Brent crude climbed 2.6% to $76.1 per barrel, extending the previous session’s gains after the US launched a series of military strikes against Iran.
The surge in crude oil prices is seen as a key risk for India, as higher oil costs can widen the country’s import bill, stoke inflationary pressures, weigh on economic growth, and compress corporate profit margins.
Market Outlook by Jay Thakkar, Vice President & Head of Derivatives and Quant Research, ICICI Securities
Nifty 50
Nifty 50 closed in negative territory on the day of the weekly expiry and, with that, failed to close above the 24,500 level, which is a short-term concern. Although the selling pressure in the equity cash segment has eased among FIIs, the overall net short positions in the Index futures remain elevated, indicating that the short-term trend may remain sideways until the 24,500 level is taken out.
As far as the BankNifty is concerned it has been facing resistance near 58,700 levels for 1 week now and the Nifty Midcap Select is also facing hurdle near 14,700 levels, so with that all of these 3 Indices have reached to the upper end of the range which until gets taken off the short-term bias will remain sideways to negative. The PCR had risen to 1.46 levels, which was quite overbought in the short term, and the India VIX too has now fallen to 11.50 levels, which is at the lower extreme, due to which the options prices have come down quite a lot, signalling that the uptrend may take a pause until the yesterdays swing highs are not taken off.
On the lower side, the 24,000 level is a very critical support range, as it has the highest put base, and until that is broken, the short-term trend will not reverse completely from up to down. Based on these observations the short-term range is 24,000-24,500 levels.
Stocks To Buy in the near-term – Jay Thakkar
Jay Thakkar of ICICI Securities recommends Infosys Futures, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) Futures, and State Bank of India (SBI) Futures.
Buy Infosys futures in the range of 1,060-1,075; stop loss below 1,030; Targets ₹1,140-1,180
Infosys price action indicates that a short-term base is in place. Over the past couple of days, the stock has shown some resilience, and open interest has declined, suggesting short covering, which could lead the stock to 114-1180 levels. Based on the options data, there is the highest call base at the 1,100 strike, which may act as a short-term hurdle; however, there is no major hurdle above those levels, whereas strikes from 1,080-1,050 have witnessed some put additions, and the 1,000 strike has the highest put base, hence there is not much pressure apart from the 1,100 strike. The stock has managed to close above the 1,050 level, which is its maximum pain level, and this may act as short-term support.
Sell PFC Futures in the range of ₹413-416; stop loss above ₹422; Targets ₹400 and ₹390
PFC has not been able to bounce back sharply despite the decrease in open interest, so, despite the short covering, the price action suggests the bounce was temporary, and with the break in support levels, the odds of the stock correcting once again are higher. The options data is quite mixed as 410 and 400 strikes have the highest put base, whereas 430, 440 and 450 strikes have the highest call base, so the options data is quite heavily concentrated on both sides, which may lead to a slower decline, but the upside remains capped until these major hurdles are taken off. The stock is already trading significantly trading below its max pain level of 430.
Sell SBI futures in the range of ₹1,035-1,045; stop loss above ₹1,058; Targets ₹1,000-985
SBI has faced resistance near the mean of the weekly Bollinger bands, and with that, the Bank Nifty is also facing a hurdle near 58,700 levels, so both the stock and the Index have been facing a hurdle near the upper end of the range; hence, the risk: reward is favourable on the short side in the near term. As far as the options data is concerned, there are significant call additions at the 1,050 level, indicating that until it closes above that level, a short-term reversal may be seen. There are good put additions at 1,040 strike as well, so with a break of the same, there will be put unwinding, which can lead to further correction. The stock is trading below its max pain level of 1,050, which again indicates that 1,050 is an immediate hurdle.
Disclaimer: The Research Analyst or his relatives or I-Sec do not have actual/beneficial ownership of 1% or more securities of the subject company, at the end of 07/07/2026 or have no other financial interest and do not have any material conflict of interest.
The views and recommendations provided in this analysis are those of individual analysts or broking companies, not Mint. We strongly advise investors to consult with certified experts before making any investment decisions, as market conditions can change rapidly and individual circumstances may vary.
