Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty Open Lower As IT Stocks Drag

Domestic equity benchmarks started Tuesday’s session with modest losses as investors booked profits following the market’s recent upward movement.

The BSE Sensex opened at 77,086.05, registering a marginal decline of 8 points, while the NSE Nifty50 slipped 31.60 points to begin trading at 24,071.30.

Investors showed a preference for healthcare-related stocks during early trading hours.

Nifty Pharma emerged as the best-performing sectoral index, gaining 0.41 per cent. Nifty MidSmall Healthcare followed with an advance of 0.40 per cent.

The Nifty 500 Healthcare and Nifty Media also recorded gains of 0.29 per cent each.

Positive momentum extended to Nifty Cement and Nifty Oil & Gas, which climbed 0.27 per cent and 0.18 per cent, respectively.

Technology and metal stocks witnessed selling activity, dragging down the broader benchmarks.

Nifty Metal led sectoral losses with a decline of 0.8 per cent, followed by Nifty IT, which fell 0.77 per cent.

Shares of Infosys, Hindalco Industries, TCS, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, and Wipro featured among the weakest performers in early deals.

The broader market displayed greater resilience than the headline indices, with investors continuing to favour smaller companies.

Nifty Smallcap 50 rose 0.34 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap 250 and Nifty Smallcap 500 advanced by 0.33 per cent and 0.28 per cent, respectively. Mid-cap stocks also remained relatively stable during the opening phase of trading.

India VIX dropped 0.7 per cent to 12.75. The decline indicated lower market anxiety and expectations of reduced volatility.

Analysts pointed to softer crude oil prices and reduced tensions in West Asia as key factors supporting investor confidence.

International benchmark Brent crude traded 0.5 per cent lower at $77.51 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude also eased 0.35 per cent to $73.60 per barrel.

Market observers said lower energy costs, a steady rupee, and reduced foreign portfolio investor outflows could strengthen India’s economic and earnings outlook. They added that the progress of the monsoon will remain crucial for inflation trends. They said rural spending and the performance of consumer-focused sectors will also depend on the monsoon.

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