Indian equity benchmarks opened higher on Monday, led by banking stocks, as positive global cues and easing geopolitical tensions boosted investor sentiment despite continued selling pressure from foreign investors.
The BSE Sensex opened at 79,653.67, up from its previous close of 79,402.29, while the NSE Nifty started at 24,251.10, higher than Friday’s close of 24,180.80.
“A significant market trend during the recent days of market correction is the flight to quality. While the Nifty corrected by 8.3 per cent from the recent peak, the mid and small cap indices corrected by 9.8 per cent and 9.3 per cent respectively from their recent peaks,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Banking stocks led the gains after strong quarterly results from major private sector lenders. Shriram Finance emerged as the top gainer on NSE, surging 5.86 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank at 2.77 per cent and SBI at 1.86 per cent. Other gainers included BPCL (1.57 per cent) and Hindalco (1.32 per cent).
The losses were led by Coal India, dropping 3.88 per cent, followed by ONGC at 2.54 per cent. Other major losers included L&T (-1.02 per cent), ITC (-0.93 per cent), and Bharti Airtel (-0.91 per cent).
Global markets showed positive trends as Israeli airstrikes against Iran avoided crucial oil facilities, leading to a sharp decline in crude prices. Brent crude fell to $72.21 per barrel, potentially benefiting oil marketing companies and sectors sensitive to crude prices.
“The global market structure may turn favourable after the subdued Israeli strikes against Iran avoiding the Iranian oil fields which has resulted in a sharp drop in crude prices,” Vijayakumar added.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers, offloading equities worth ₹3,036 crore on October 25, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth ₹4,159 crore, according to exchange data.
Market volatility remained elevated with India VIX trading at 14.63, up 4.74 per cent from the previous session. “The volatility also spiked; the India Vix surged by another 12.23 per cent to 14.63 on a weekly basis, and moving beyond 15.7 will warrant caution,” noted Ameya Ranadive, Sr Technical Analyst at StoxBox.
The market will be closely watching quarterly results from major companies including Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Adani Power, IOC, and Ambuja Cements scheduled for today. Additionally, investors are awaiting U.S. Q3 GDP data and earnings reports from tech giants Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta Platforms this week.
“Though a bounce in the markets is overdue, it needs reversal of selling pressure from FPIs and some sentiment stability in the local investor community,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.
Technical analysts suggest key support for Nifty at 24,000, with resistance at 24,500-24,600. “For traders, levels 24000 and 78700 would serve as a key support zone. If the market holds above these levels, we can expect a technical bounce back towards 24500 and 80300,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research at Kotak Securities.