Indian stock market closed today for Ganesh Chaturthi

MUMBAI: Indian stock markets remained shut on Wednesday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi. Since the festival is a state holiday in Maharashtra, both the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), which are headquartered in Mumbai, observed a trading holiday. No trading activity took place in equity, derivative, and currency segments.

While Indian markets stayed closed, other major Asian markets opened the day largely in positive territory. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.32 per cent in early trade, reflecting investor optimism. Singapore’s Straits Times index also edged higher by 0.12 per cent.

On the other hand, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was marginally in the red, down by 0.04 per cent. Taiwan’s Taiwan Weighted index witnessed stronger gains, rising 0.88 per cent, while South Korea’s KOSPI also traded in green, up by 0.07 per cent. Overall, the mood in Asian markets remained steady with most indices trading higher, even as Indian stock markets stayed closed for the holiday.

The Indian stock market on Tuesday witnessed a sharp sell-off after the Trump administration issued a notification to impose an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports. The secondary tariffs will come into effect from August 27 and take the total tariff on Indian goods to 50 per cent.

Stock markets traded under pressure today and slipped below crucial support levels, derailing the recent recovery momentum. At the end of the trading session, Nifty 50 at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) slipped 255.70 points, or 1.02 percent, to 24,712.05, while the BSE Sensex was down 849.37 points, or 1.04 percent, to 80,786.54.

“The announcement triggered a wave of risk-off sentiment across domestic markets, leading to broad-based weakness”, said Sudeep Shah, Head of Technical Research and Derivatives at SBI Securities.

The Bank Nifty index has been exhibiting notable underperformance compared to the frontline indices over the past few sessions, reflecting growing pressure in the banking space. On Tuesday, the index extended its decline and breached its prior swing low, reinforcing the bearish undertone.

The Bank Nifty saw a swing low of 55000, confirming further downside levels towards the 53500/52700 mark. Except for the FMCG index, all the indices ended negative, with the maximum loser being the small-cap index, down by more than 2 per cent. (ANI)