Indian equity markets are set for a cautious start on Tuesday, following a strong rebound in the previous session. The BSE Sensex rang the opening bell near 83,050, crashing more than 200 points, and the NSE Nifty50 tested 25,600, taking a hit of close to 100 points, around 9:15 AM.
In the pre-open session at around 9:07 AM, benchmark indices were trading marginally lower, signalling a subdued opening. The Sensex was at 83,198.47, down 78.68 points or 0.09 per cent, while the Nifty stood at 25,637.95, lower by 44.80 points or 0.17 per cent.
The mild weakness comes after a sharp recovery on Monday, when domestic markets snapped a three-day losing streak.
On the Sensex benchmark, the gainers in the morning hour included Infosys, Asian Paints, TCS, HCL Tech, and BEL. On the other hand, the laggards included Eternal, ICICI Bank, Reliance, Tata Steel, and UltraTech Cement.
In the broader markets, the Nifty Financial Services slipped 0.62 per cent. Sectorally, the Metal index dominated in red and plunged 1.21 per cent, while the IT index climbed 1.77 per cent.
Sensex, Nifty Rebound Nearly 1 Per Cent On Monday
On Monday, benchmark indices surged close to 1 per cent, supported by robust buying in banking, power and financial stocks, even as global markets presented a mixed picture.
The 30-share Sensex climbed 650.39 points, or 0.79 per cent, to close at 83,277.15. The Nifty gained 211.65 points, or 0.83 per cent, to settle at 25,682.75.
Market breadth, however, remained weak. A total of 2,565 stocks declined on the BSE, compared to 1,747 advances, while 184 remained unchanged.
The rally added Rs 3,11,982.13 crore to investor wealth, taking the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms to Rs 4,68,58,625.33 crore (USD 5.17 trillion).
Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, noted that PSU bank stocks rebounded after two sessions of decline, aided by increased mutual fund allocation to the sector in January, which rose to a three-year high.
On the domestic macro front, wholesale price inflation rose for the third consecutive month to 1.81 per cent in January, driven by higher food, non-food and manufactured product prices. WPI inflation stood at 2.51 per cent in January last year and 0.83 per cent in December 2025.
