After a strong opening on November 26, the Nifty and Sensex reversed course, slipping into the negative territory and ending a two-day winning streak. Weighed down by weakness in auto and energy stocks, the markets struggled for momentum amid a lack of fresh positive triggers, according to market experts.

At noon, the Sensex was down 147.14 points or 0.18 percent at 79,962.71, and the Nifty was down 39.40 points or 0.16 percent at 24,182.50. About 1995 shares advanced, 1290 shares declined, and 115 shares unchanged.

"The two-day rally in the market is unlikely to sustain beyond a point since earnings concerns are major headwinds. The impact of short covering and the positive sentimental effect of the Maharashtra election results will be temporary," V K Vijaykumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said. "Too much should not be read into the FIIs turning big buyers yesterday since that was due to MSCI rebalancing with higher weightage to HDFC Bank. Leading banks will remain resilient due to consistent buying and reasonable valuations," he added.  To be sure, FIIs bought Rs 9,949 crore in cash markets, the first time in 38 days.

Nifty Auto, Energy and Pharma index slipped the most in the afternoon. Losses in big names like M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, and Bajaj Auto dragged the auto index lower.  On the contrary, gainers were Nifty IT, FMCG, and Realty, all gaining 1 percent each. Market experts suggest that IT stocks are trading at attractive valuations. The Realty index has been on a roll lately, rallying a massive 7 percent in the past week. Jefferies said it remains optimistic about the real estate sector, citing a six-month high in residential sales during October, driven by robust festive demand.

The mid and smallcap indices, also known as the broader market, outperformed the benchmarks and posted gains of 0.3 and 0.5 percent, respectively. The two have outperformed the headline indices by posting gains of 21 percent since the start of the year. The NSE Nifty has gained just over 11 percent over the same period. Experts suggest that the small-midcap space has seen a decent fall and now slight buying could emerge although it will be stock-specific.

Major Adani Group stocks like Adani Power, Adani Green Energy, and Adani Power traded 2-3 percent lower after ratings agency Fitch put some of Adani Group's bonds on the watch for a possible downgrade after some of the firm's key executives were indicted by U.S. authorities on bribery charges.

Newly-listed Swiggy was sparkling in trade in the afternoon with gains of almost 4 percent. This comes after UBS initiated coverage on the counter with a 'buy' recommendation citing robust growth prospects for the company. With a 'buy' rating and a target price of Rs 515, the brokerage forecasts a nearly 27 percent upside from the current closing levels on the exchanges.

Debt-laden Vodafone Idea also saw strong buying interest, rising 15 percent, after reports emerged that the Union Cabinet approved the waiver of bank guarantees for telecom operators. The wavier will be applied to spectrum acquired by telecom operators in auctions held before 2022.

Emcure Pharmaceuticals rose as much as 10 percent today after Kotak Securities upgraded the counter to 'buy' from add and raised the target price suggesting that the company is poised for growth in the coming quarters.

"Nifty can find support at 24,150 followed by 24,050 and 23,950. On the higher side, 24,300 can be immediate resistance, followed by 24,450 and 24,550," Hardik Matalia of Choice Broking said. "The charts of Bank Nifty indicate that it may get support at 52,000 followed by 51,800 and 51,600. If the index advances further, 52,400 would be the initial key resistance, followed by 52,600 and 52,800," he added.

Vijayakumar also adds that all eyes will be on what President Trump will do. Trump’s selection of Scott Bessent as the Treasury Secretary is a positive from the market perspective since he is regarded as a fiscal conservative. This can help bring down the bond yields in the US thereby favouring emerging markets.

Bharat Electronics, Infosys, Asian Paints, Britannia, and Shriram Finance were the top gainers on the Nifty. Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Bajaj Auto, UltraTech Cement, and M&M slipped the most on the Nifty.