BT Opening Bell | Sensex plunges 452 pts, Nifty below 23,250; IT stocks defy weak market trend

Domestic benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened lower on Tuesday, extending their losing streak for a fourth consecutive session, mirroring weakness across Asian markets as investors remained cautious amid lingering uncertainty surrounding the US-Iran peace negotiations.

At 9:18 am, the BSE Sensex slipped 403.52 points, or 0.54%, to 73,863.82, after falling as much as 452 points in early trade, while the NSE Nifty declined 138.45 points, or 0.59%, to 23,244.15, briefly touching a low of 23,229.15.

Among Sensex constituents, Bajaj Finance slumped 2.60% to Rs 865.80. Eternal declined 1.47%, while Bharat Electronics,Bajaj Finserv, and Trent slipped 1.65%, 1.58% and 1.35%, respectively.

While IT stocks such as Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and TCS gained up to 3.20% in early trade.

The trend of ongoing AI trade, new market records in the US, South Korea, and Taiwan, persistent FPI selling in India, and India's underperformance are continuing with no immediate signs of reversal, said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd.

“To add to India’s problems, the energy shock has led to downward revision of India’s GDP growth and upward revision of inflation this financial year,” Vijayakumar added.

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Broader Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunged 1.64% to 65,833.49, while South Korea’s Kospi slumped 1.52% to 8,659.26. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.09% to 25,673.94. 

Wall Street ended higher overnight, with all three major indices closing in the green. The S&P 500 gained 0.26% to settle at 7,599.96, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.09% to close at 51,078.88. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.42% to end at 27,086.81.

Previous session

In the previous session on Monday, the Sensex declined 508.40 points, or 0.68%, to settle at 74,267.34, while the Nifty slipped 165.15 points, or 0.70%, to close at 23,382.60.

“Overall, the technical setup remains weak, with benchmark indices trading below key moving averages, momentum indicators turning negative, and volatility rising. Unless Nifty manages to hold above 23,250 and reclaim the 23,700 zone, bears are likely to maintain control in the near term, keeping market sentiment cautious and volatile," said Aakash Shah, Technical Research Analyst at Choice Equity Broking Private Ltd.