Sensex, Nifty Trade With Marginal Gains After Opening 0.5% Lower

Indian equity markets opened lower on Thursday as mixed signals from the war front kept investors on edge.

The BSE Sensex opened 411 points, or 0.55 percent lower, at 73,935 points compared to its previous close of 74,346 points.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened 123 points, or 0.52 percent lower, at 23,282 points against Wednesday’s closing level of 23,405 points.

As trading progressed, both benchmark indices rose to turn green for a brief period to again turn red. While Sensex jumped 673 points to 74,480 points from its day’s low, Nifty surged to 23,450 points with a gain of 203 points.

The rally was short-lived as both the benchmarks were trading marginally lower at around 10:40 AM.

Investors are cautious to take bullish bets as clarity is still elusive on the war front.

The United States-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is expected to benefit the former in peace talks with Iran.

According to a report by Aljazeera, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned that any Israeli attack on Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, would “lead to a full resumption of war”

Certain issues, like Iran’s position on continuing its nuclear programme, have created bottlenecks in a long-awaited breakthrough between Iran and the US.

Market sentiment has remained cautious as investors awaited greater clarity on ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran.

The lack of a breakthrough in peace talks kept traders on the sidelines, while continued selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) added pressure on domestic equities.

Around 1,939 stocks advanced on the National Stock Exchange, while nearly 1,047 stocks declined.

Information technology stocks, which were the leaders in market rally of posted one of the worst sell-off in a decade on Wednesday, continued to remain among the top losers.

With a decline of over 1.5 percent, Infosys was the biggest loser among the Nifty 50 stocks. HCLTech also declined 0.8 percent.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) lost the most among the Nifty 50 shares, declining over 7.5 percent.

Metals stocks like Tata Steel, Hindalco and JSW Steel also remained among the top losers.

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty IT emerged as the worst-performer, losing 0.57 percent.

However, out of the 21 sectoral indices, only three traded in red while others maintained marginal gains.