Indian equity markets opened under pressure on Tuesday as expectations of a potential agreement between the United States and Iran weakened and uncertainty surrounding the Strait of Hormuz increased.
At around 9:18 am, the BSE Sensex was down 276 points at 78,266.77, while the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 75 points lower at 24,510.45. Selling pressure subsequently increased, with the Sensex declining more than 330 points to around 78,212.35. The Nifty fell 98 points to 24,485.45.
Banking, aviation, telecom and financial stocks came under selling pressure in early trade amid increased global uncertainty and diminishing expectations of a potential US-Iran agreement.
Aviation and financial stocks were among the sectors facing the most pressure in early trade. InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) was among the major Nifty 50 laggards, with its shares down around 1.76% at ₹5,245.85. Bajaj Finance declined around 1.21%.
Shriram Finance also remained under pressure amid selling in financial stocks. Bharti Airtel declined around 1.21%, Axis Bank fell around 1.07% and UltraTech Cement was down around 1.06%. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC Bank also faced selling pressure.
While several major stocks traded lower, IT and some other sectoral stocks provided support to the market. HCL Technologies was among the major early gainers, rising around 1.10% to approximately ₹1,371.95. Titan Company gained around 0.76% to around ₹5,137.
Tech Mahindra rose 0.72% and Infosys gained around 0.60%, with both stocks remaining in positive territory.
Buying in IT stocks attempted to limit the decline in the broader market. Investors were also focused on signals from the global technology sector and companies' financial performance.
The banking and financial services indices recorded the sharpest sectoral weakness. Nifty Bank fell around 342 points, or 0.59%, to 57,344.70. Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Financial Services also remained under pressure.
Selling in banking stocks affected overall market sentiment. According to experts, investors will monitor global developments along with interest rates, crude oil prices and foreign investor activity. Any major change in these factors could affect the Indian equity market.
The broader market showed a different trend from the benchmark indices. The Nifty Midcap Index was trading with a marginal decline of around 0.02%, while the Nifty Smallcap Index was up around 0.32%.
The movement indicated that despite selling in large-cap companies, investor interest remained in some small- and mid-cap stocks.
