September 2026 began with the Indian stock market opening marginally lower on Tuesday amid mixed global cues. The benchmark indices opened in the red, although the initial decline in the Sensex and Nifty remained limited. Buying interest was visible across parts of the broader market, with around 1,350 stocks trading higher in early trade.
The market opening indicated that investors remained attentive to global developments and domestic economic indicators. Despite pressure on the benchmark indices, buying in some major stocks limited the decline.
In early trade on Tuesday, the BSE Sensex fell 75.60 points, or 0.10%, to 76,881.67. The NSE Nifty 50 declined 41.55 points, or 0.17%, to around 24,038.85.
Market breadth remained positive despite the weakness in the benchmark indices. Around 1,350 stocks advanced in early trade, while 1,016 stocks declined and about 157 remained unchanged.
Trading among major Nifty 50 stocks was mixed on Tuesday morning. ITC was among the top-performing stocks, gaining around 3.54% in early trade. Adani Ports rose 2.74%, Bharti Airtel gained 2.40%, and Adani Enterprises advanced 2.12%.
HCL Technologies also traded around 1.89% higher. Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories were among the other stocks trading in positive territory.
Several major stocks traded lower in early trade. Max Healthcare declined around 3.70%, making it one of the weakest-performing stocks. Shriram Finance fell 3.38%, while Nestle India declined around 2.99%.
IndiGo was down 2.93% and Axis Bank declined around 2.39%. TCS, Asian Paints and Sun Pharma also traded under pressure in early trade.
Sectoral indices showed a mixed trend on Tuesday. The Nifty FMCG Index gained around 0.94%, making it one of the best-performing sectors. Gains in ITC and Hindustan Unilever supported the index.
In contrast, the Nifty Pharma Index declined 1.35%, Nifty Realty fell 1.06% and Nifty Bank declined 0.92%. Nifty IT was also around 0.86% lower, while Nifty PSU Bank declined approximately 0.75%.
