Indian benchmark indices opened flat on Tuesday, with the Sensex starting at 82,652.69 and the Nifty at 25,313.40, following a record-setting session on Monday. The market’s cautious stance comes as investors await key US jobs data later this week, which could influence the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rate cuts.

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, noted, “Nifty is likely to trade within 24700-26000, with resistance at 25500.” He added that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) showed renewed buying interest, net purchasing ₹9,217 crore last week and ₹1,735 crore on Monday.

Hardik Matalia, Derivative Analyst at Choice Broking, suggested, “Nifty can find support at 25,200 followed by 24,150 and 25,050. On the higher side, 25,350 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 25,450 and 25,500.”

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, commented, “As long as the market is trading above 25150/82350, the bullish sentiment is expected to persist.”

The GIFT Nifty futures indicated a slight gain of 13 points for the broader index. However, global markets experienced a minor decline on Monday, with investors anticipating a data-heavy week culminating in the US jobs report.

In sectoral news, the FMCG index gained 0.88 per cent on Monday, while the metal index declined by over 1 per cent.

Defense stocks are expected to attract attention, particularly Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), following the Cabinet Committee on Security’s approval of a ₹26,000 crore procurement proposal for 240 AL-31FP aero-engines.

As of 9:30 am, the top gainers on the NSE were Hindalco (1.07 per cent), Sun Pharma (0.83 per cent), Shriram Finance (0.64 per cent), ITC (0.60 per cent), and Divi’s Lab (0.59 per cent). The top losers included Bajaj Finance (-1.68 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (-0.79 per cent), Bajaj Auto (-0.77 per cent), Infosys (-0.69 per cent), and Titan (-0.57 per cent).

In the commodities market, gold remained steady at $2,504 per ounce. Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities at Mehta Equities Ltd, stated, “Gold has support at $2,478-2,461 and resistance at $2,512-2,527.”

Crude oil prices showed volatility, with Kalantri noting, “Crude oil has support at $74.70-74.00 and resistance at $76.00-76.65.”

Vikas Jain, Head of Research at Reliance Securities, highlighted potential sectors to watch, saying, “Large-cap sectors such as pharma, auto, FMCG, and IT are likely to maintain their momentum.”

The market’s performance in the coming days may be influenced by falling oil prices, the government’s ₹40,000 crore investment in rail and agriculture sectors, and strong August sales data for two-wheelers. Investors will also be closely monitoring the US non-farm payrolls report due on Friday, with expectations of 165,000 jobs added in August.

Related Topics