Amid a cocktail of global cues, India’s benchmark indices started the trading day flat. By 9:21 AM, Sensex was marginally lower at 82,605 (down 21 points), while Nifty held a slim gain at 25,473 (up 2 points).
Defensive buying in pharma and healthcare propped up the market, making Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare the standout performers. Positive momentum was also seen in realty, energy, consumer durables, private banks, and PSE indices.
Dragging the indices were media, PSU banks, metals, IT, financial services, commodities, services, and defence sectors, which opened weak.
Top Sensex gainers included Power Grid, NTPC, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki, ITC, Eternal, Kotak Mahindra Bank, M&M, HCL Tech, and Bharti Airtel. On the flip side, Infosys, SBI, Tech Mahindra, HUL, Titan, UltraTech Cement, TCS, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Trent were down.
Breadth was weak in mid and smallcaps: Nifty Midcap 100 dropped 203 points (0.34%) to 59,234, and Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 79 points (0.47%) to 16,953.
International markets reflected caution, with Asian peers like Tokyo, Bangkok, and Hong Kong lower. Wall Street closed mixed Friday, Dow +0.10%, Nasdaq -0.22%.
Crude oil edged higher – Brent $67.80/bbl (+0.10%), WTI $62.80/oz (+0.09%) – but gold slumped to $5,002/oz (-0.80%) and silver to $75.11/oz (-3.61%).
With volatility in play, traders are monitoring geopolitical tensions and economic indicators for potential market movers.