The 50-share NSE Nifty lost 150.50 points, or 0.62 per cent, to settle at 24,176.15. The index made a low of 24,126.65 and a high of 24,253.80 during the day. BSE Sensex fell 516.33 points, or 0.66 per cent, to close at 77,328.19 as escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia weighed heavily on investor sentiment.

As of 3:00 PM, the Nifty50 was trading 137.35 points or 0.56 per cent down at 24,188.90, and the Sensex was trading 500.49 points or 0.64 per cent down at 77,328.23.

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Brokerage firm Citi has initiated a 'Buy' coverage on the power utilities sector, saying the country is entering a long-term and broad-based capital upcycle driven by rising demand for electricity, expansion in the renewable space, and grid storage. 

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Hero Realty, the real estate arm of Hero Enterprise, has secured a Rs 1,200 crore debt facility from IndusInd Bank to support its growth and expansion plans. The transaction was facilitated by Rezonance Consultants and reflects strong lender confidence in Hero Realty's portfolio quality, governance standards, and execution capabilities. The funding will further strengthen the company's balance sheet while providing long-term capital visibility for its ongoing and upcoming residential developments.

Commenting on the development, Rohit Kishore, CEO, Hero Realty, said, "This facility from IndusInd Bank marks another important milestone in Hero Realty's growth journey. The continued support from leading financial institutions reflects confidence in our strategy, asset quality, and disciplined execution. We remain focused on scaling responsibly while delivering high-quality residential developments under the Hero Homes brand."

BTC briefly moved below the $80K mark after facing resistance near $81.5K, leading to increased short-term market volatility. The pullback appears to be a combination of profit-booking after the recent rally and cautious sentiment due ongoing geopolitical developments involving the US and Iran. Institutional interest has remained steady, with spot Bitcoin ETFs recording more than $1 billion in inflows this week. A move back above the $80.5K level could improve near-term sentiment and support price stabilisation. For investors, gradually building positions over time may be a more disciplined and balanced approach than trying to time short-term market fluctuations.

The rupee depreciated 45 paise to 94.67 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, as Brent crude prices rose back to $101.00 per barrel after US and Iranian forces exchanged fire near the Strait of Hormuz.

The Thesis

US markets pulled back from records overnight as crude rebounded off midweek lows on softer Iran-deal optimism, and GIFT Nifty points to a gap-down open. Against that backdrop, today's book leans hard into domestic-defensive pharma and selective capex/commodity beneficiaries - themes that decouple from FII outflow pressure as DII absorption stays intact. With VIX still sub-17, the stance is conviction-led, not risk-off.

Where We're Concentrated

A five-stock pharma cluster (biosimilars, formulations, diagnostics) anchors defensiveness; a parallel capex axis spans defence, electricals, and airport infrastructure; commodity-linked names round out the book against the crude rebound. The thesis breaks if FII selling outpaces DII absorption and Nifty loses 24,000 - at that point pharma's relative-value cushion compresses and the capex names re-correlate with risk-off flow.

Conviction Picks

Highest Conviction

GMR Airports

Breadth across momentum, swing and options confirms institutional positioning on India's airport-capex cycle - a domestic theme insulated from overnight global wobble.

UPL

Agrichem leverage to a normal-monsoon setup; pricing power offsets the input-cost drag from this morning's crude rebound.

Defensive Anchor

Biocon

Biosimilars pipeline keeps earnings visibility decoupled from FII flow - the kind of name that holds when Nifty wobbles intraday.

Hindustan Aeronautics

Multi-year defence-capex visibility; momentum signals confirm sustained accumulation while VIX stays contained.

Vedanta

Metals and oil mix benefits directly from the overnight crude rebound; dividend yield cushions any FII-driven drag on the broader tape.

One Thing to Watch

Nifty 50 must hold 24,250 on the gap-down open. A clean break invalidates the book's defensive premise as broad-market correlation rises and pharma's relative-value cushion compresses.

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Rajesh Palviya, Head of Research, Axis Direct.

The Nifty closed nearly unchanged yesterday at 24,326, just four points lower after Wednesday's sharp 298-point increase - a pause rather than a trend reversal. Wall Street dipped overnight as profit-taking took hold following the record high, with the S&P 500 falling 0.38%, the Dow down 0.63%, and the Nasdaq dropping 0.13%, despite oil rising sharply on new US-Iran tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. Asian markets are weak this morning, with Japan and Korea opening 0.6-0.7% lower. Brent crude recovered above $101, gold is close to $4,720, and silver remains around $80. GIFT Nifty indicates a weak start. Technically, 24,200 is now key support; falling below this could quickly push the index toward 24,000. Bulls need a daily close above 24,400 to regain upward momentum. Overall, the market shows confidence, with the Nifty Midcap 100 at an all-time high, supporting a buy on dips approach as long as major support levels hold. Sector and stock-specific movements are expected to continue.

At the close on Thursday (May 8), the total market cap of BSE Sensex stood at Rs 4,74,97,885.