Indian Stock Market Starts Slightly Higher, Sensex Surpasses 82,000

Indian equity markets opened with slim gains on Tuesday, supported by encouraging signs from overseas markets. Trading early in the day witnessed interest buying from the automobile, IT, and financial sectors.

The Sensex had risen 122.13 points, or 0.15%, to 82,282.10 by 9:22 am, and the Nifty rose 35.85 points, or 0.14%, to 25,238.20.

In sectoral indices, the Nifty Bank lost 26.30 points, or 0.05%, to 55,258.45. The Nifty Midcap 100 fell 12.95 points, or 0.02%, to 58,686.55, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 4.25 points, or 0.02%, to 18,293.15.

Market analysts said the Nifty's short-term higher course will be contingent on how much higher the recent slippages of the 25,200–25,000 level go. "Early action can have a positive bias if over 25,238, but it would take a direct climb over 25,278/335 area to draw momentum," they said.

Leaders among Sensex stocks were Maruti Suzuki, M&M, Tata Motors, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, and Axis Bank. Ultratech Cement, Sun Pharma, Trent, and Asian Paints were the top laggards.

As for Asia, markets in Jakarta, Bangkok, Japan, and Seoul were higher, with Hong Kong and China in the negative.

In the US, the Dow Jones rose to close at 46,381.54, increasing 66.27 points or 0.14%, the S&P 500 increased by 29.39 points, or 0.44%, to 6,693.75, and the Nasdaq increased 157.50 points, or 0.70%, to close at 22,788.98.

Experts pointed out that continued selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) has been weighing heavily on Indian markets since the September 2024 high. This is mostly on account of elevated valuations in India vis-à-vis better opportunities overseas.

Until now in 2024, FIIs have offloaded equities valued at Rs 121,210 crore, and during this year, their net sales through the exchanges have touched Rs 179,200 crore. On September 22, FIIs were the net sellers with sales of Rs 2,910.09 crore, while DIIs purchased equities valued at Rs 2,582.63 crore.