Indian Markets Open Lower Amid Global Weakness; Sensex Drops Nearly 280 Points

Indian stock markets opened on a subdued note on Monday, as weak global cues dampened investor sentiment.

The Sensex fell nearly 280 points in early trade to hover around 84,989, a decline of approximately 0.33 per cent. The Nifty also slipped, trading near 25,966, down 81 points or 0.31 per cent.

Market experts noted that the support for Nifty lies between 25,850 and 25,900. Resistance is seen at 26,150–26,200, with a decisive close above 26,200 required to revive bullish momentum and target 26,500.

Analysts cautioned that the index is likely to remain range-bound with a negative bias until these levels are breached.

Most heavyweight stocks faced selling pressure in early trade. Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra, Trent, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, TCS, Titan, Maruti Suzuki, and Bajaj Finance were among the top losers, declining up to 1.4 per cent.

Only a few stocks managed gains, including Asian Paints, Bharat Electronics (BEL), Hindustan Unilever (HUL), and UltraTech Cement.

Broader Market and Sector Performance

The broader market reflected the cautious mood, with the Nifty MidCap index down 0.40 per cent and the Nifty SmallCap index falling 0.15 per cent. Sector-wise, realty stocks faced the most selling pressure as the Nifty Realty index slipped 0.8 per cent.

Auto and pharma stocks also declined, with Nifty Auto and Nifty Pharma down around 0.6 per cent each.

Experts advised investors to adopt a cautious buy-on-dips strategy near support levels with tight stop-losses.

Aggressive long positions are not recommended until key resistance levels are decisively breached. Partial profit booking on pullbacks is suggested to navigate the current range-bound and volatile market environment.

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