Indian equity benchmarks opened on a cautious note on Tuesday despite weak global signals, as investors tracked developments in global markets, corporate earnings and commodity prices.
The BSE Sensex rang the opening bell near 76,800, slipping a little over 30 points, while the NSE Nifty50 stood just under 24k, down 18 points, as of 9:15 AM.
GIFT Nifty Signals Cautious Start
Domestic markets opened with limited gains even as GIFT Nifty pointed towards a subdued start. The futures contract was quoted at 24,005, down 23 points, reflecting investor caution amid mixed global cues.
At around 9:05 AM, the Sensex was trading at 76,954.75, up 118.97 points or 0.15 per cent, while the Nifty50 slipped 8.05 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 23,987.90.
The cautious opening comes after benchmark indices staged a sharp rebound in the previous session, with broad-based buying lifting market sentiment.
Market participants are expected to closely monitor quarterly earnings announcements from major global technology companies, movements in crude oil prices and developments surrounding geopolitical tensions through the day’s trade.
Asian Markets Slide Ahead Of Big Tech Earnings
Most Asia-Pacific markets traded lower on Tuesday as investors pared exposure to technology stocks before earnings announcements from Amazon, Meta Platforms and Apple.
South Korea’s Kospi tumbled more than 8 per cent, dragged lower by a sharp decline in SK Hynix, whose shares slumped around 10 per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 also witnessed heavy selling, falling 3.84 per cent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.23 per cent.
Wall Street Ends Mixed
US markets delivered a mixed performance overnight.
The Nasdaq Composite edged 0.18 per cent lower, weighed down by technology stocks, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.51 per cent. The S&P 500 finished marginally higher, adding 0.02 per cent.
Investors largely remained focused on the upcoming earnings season, which is expected to provide fresh direction to global equity markets.
Oil Extends Losses On US-Iran Diplomacy Hopes
Crude oil prices continued to soften as optimism grew over a possible diplomatic breakthrough between the United States and Iran.
US President Donald Trump said discussions with Tehran were progressing well, although he warned that military action remained an option if negotiations failed. Iranian officials also struck a relatively positive tone regarding the talks.
The July Brent crude futures contract traded at $87.52 per barrel, down 0.95 per cent during early trade.
Lower crude prices are generally viewed as positive for India, as they help ease inflationary pressures and reduce import costs.
Gold, Silver Trade Lower
Precious metals also witnessed selling pressure.
Gold futures were down 0.67 per cent, while silver futures declined 1.79 per cent in early trade as investors shifted focus towards upcoming macroeconomic data and corporate earnings.
Technical View
According to Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, Monday’s rally reflected broad-based buying across sectors, with tourism, media, realty and information technology stocks emerging as the strongest performers.
He said the market formed a bullish daily candlestick pattern after maintaining upward momentum throughout Monday’s session, suggesting that near-term sentiment has improved.
Chouhan believes the ongoing recovery could extend as long as the Nifty holds above the 23,800 level (or around 76,300 on the Sensex). On the upside, he expects the index to test its 20-day simple moving average in the 24,100-24,150 zone, while a fall below the key support could invite fresh selling pressure and drag the Nifty towards 23,700-23,600.
He also advised investors to use any further recovery to trim weaker long positions near the resistance zone, while considering selective fresh buying on declines closer to support levels where the risk-reward equation appears more favourable.
