Indian equities began Tuesday on a cautious note, extending losses for a second straight session as selling pressure in oil and gas stocks weighed heavily on benchmarks. Reliance Industries and city gas distributors bore the brunt, pushing the Nifty Oil & Gas index sharply lower and keeping investors on edge amid global geopolitical unease.
At the opening bell, the mood was defensive, though not panicked. Traders appeared watchful, scanning overseas cues while adjusting positions in heavyweight stocks.
Benchmarks Open in the Red for Second Session
At around 9:21 am IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 277.45 points, or 0.32%, trading near 85,162 levels.
The NIFTY 50 slipped below the psychological 26,200 mark, falling 50.55 points, or 0.19%, to 26,199.75.
The opening weakness marked a continuation of Monday’s trend, with investors clearly reluctant to take aggressive bets early in the session.
Global developments, particularly rising geopolitical tensions, were said to be keeping sentiment fragile, even as cues from Asia remained broadly positive.
Oil & Gas Stocks Take the Hardest Hit
The sharpest pain was visible in energy-related stocks.
The Nifty Oil & Gas index slumped 1.61%, emerging as the worst-performing sector in early trade. Heavyweights and gas utilities were firmly in the red, dragging the sector lower within minutes of the open.
Key laggards included:
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Reliance Industries, down over 3.6%
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Mahanagar Gas, trading sharply lower
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Petronet LNG, under pressure in early deals
Reliance’s decline alone had a noticeable impact on both Sensex and Nifty, given its outsized weight on the indices.
Market participants pointed to concerns around energy price volatility and global supply risks as factors spooking investors in the sector, at least for now.
Broader Market Sends Mixed Signals
Away from the frontline indices, the broader market painted a more nuanced picture.
The Nifty Midcap 100 edged down marginally by 0.02%, indicating mild profit booking in select names.
Meanwhile, the Nifty Smallcap 100 managed a slight gain of 0.1%, suggesting that retail interest in smaller stocks has not completely faded.
Basically, there was no blanket sell-off.
Some pockets saw buying interest, while others struggled, reflecting a market that is pausing rather than pulling back in a big way.
Sectoral Performance Shows Clear Divergence
Sectoral indices showed a clear split between losers and gainers.
Apart from oil and gas, the Nifty Media slipped 0.31%, while the Nifty FMCG fell 0.28% in early trade.
Real estate and consumer durables stocks were also marginally lower, each shedding around 0.06%.
On the other side, metal stocks stood out.
The Nifty Metal jumped 1.08%, leading sectoral gains, helped by firm global metal prices and optimism around demand.
Banking stocks were mixed but supportive overall. The Nifty PSU Bank rose 0.6%, while the Nifty Private Bank added close to 0.29%.
Pharma and IT stocks also posted modest gains, offering some cushion to the benchmarks.
Heavyweight Stocks Under Pressure Early On
Among individual stocks, selling pressure was evident in several index heavyweights.
Retail-focused Trent saw a steep fall of over 7%, making it one of the top losers in early trade.
Reliance Industries remained under pressure, while banking major HDFC Bank slipped more than 1%, adding to the drag on the indices.
A few defensive names attempted to stabilise, but the early narrative was still driven by declines in large-cap stocks.
You know how it goes. When heavyweights wobble, the rest of the market feels it.
Institutional Flows Highlight Diverging Views
Data from the exchanges showed contrasting activity by institutional investors in the previous session.
Foreign institutional investors, or FIIs, were net sellers on Monday, offloading equities worth ₹36.25 crore.
Domestic institutional investors, or DIIs, moved the other way. They bought shares worth ₹1,764.07 crore on a net basis, offering some support to the market.
That divergence has become familiar in recent weeks. Overseas investors appear cautious, while domestic funds continue to step in on declines, at least selectively.
For now, that domestic support is acting like a soft cushion under the market.
Asian Markets Offer a Firmer Backdrop
Despite weakness at home, cues from Asia were largely supportive.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading higher by around 0.84% in morning deals.
China’s Shanghai Composite climbed 1.14%, while South Korea’s KOSPI added about 0.18%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index outperformed peers, rising close to 2%.
Asian stocks appeared to be taking comfort from Wall Street’s overnight rally, even as investors stayed alert to geopolitical risks.
Wall Street Gains on Energy-Led Rally
US markets ended higher on Monday, with energy stocks leading the charge.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.23%, while the S&P 500 posted strong gains as well.
Oil stocks benefited after a US military action resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a development investors interpreted as potentially opening access for US companies to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
That rally helped lift global risk sentiment overnight, though Indian markets chose a more guarded response at the open.
