Indian stock market opens in red, Sensex and Nifty slip in early trade

Mumbai (The Uttam Hindu): Amid weak global cues, the Indian stock market opened in negative territory on Tuesday, the second trading day of the week. Broad-based selling pressure was seen in early trade, pushing key benchmark indices lower. At the time of writing, the 30-share BSE Sensex was down 136 points, or 0.16 per cent, trading at 84,559.40. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty slipped 48.90 points, or 0.19 per cent, to trade at 25,893.20.

All Nifty sectoral indices were trading in the red during early hours. In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap index declined by 0.14 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap index fell by 0.16 per cent. On the sectoral front, Nifty Realty dropped 0.7 per cent, Nifty PSU Bank slipped 0.6 per cent, Nifty FMCG declined 0.4 per cent and Nifty Pharma was down by 0.34 per cent.

Within the Nifty pack, Eternal, Apollo Hospitals, Tata Consumer, UltraTech Cement, Jio Financial, Max Healthcare and Tata Steel were among the top losers. On the other hand, Shriram Finance, TMPV, Hindalco, BEL, Adani Ports and Axis Bank featured among the top gainers.

Commenting on market trends, Geojit Investments Limited Chief Investment Strategist Dr VK Vijayakumar said that the weakness seen towards the year-end does not indicate any major change in market direction. He noted that the advance-decline ratio favoured declines, which led to Nifty falling nearly 100 points on Monday. He added that this fall occurred in low trading volumes, and a clearer market trend is likely to emerge only in the new year when large institutional investors return to active participation.

He further advised investors to remain cautious and wait for fresh triggers or a clearer direction. However, he said the current weakness could be used to gradually accumulate high-quality large-cap stocks. According to him, auto sales data expected in the coming days will provide key insights into the sustainability of consumption growth and overall economic momentum.

On Monday, the BSE Sensex closed 345.91 points, or 0.41 per cent lower, at 84,695.54, while the NSE Nifty50 declined 100.20 points, or 0.38 per cent, to settle at 25,942.10.