Equity benchmarks opened on a cautious note on Tuesday, with the Sensex slipping 218.21 points or 0.26 per cent to 85,221.41 after opening at 85,331.14, against the previous close of 85,439.62. The Nifty declined 30.40 points or 0.12 per cent to 26,219.90 after opening at 26,189.70, against Monday’s close of 26,250.30, as profit booking at higher levels offset support from firm global cues.
Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said Nifty “slipped 0.30 per cent to close at 26,250 amid profit booking, despite touching a fresh all-time high of 26,373, signalling a phase of bullish consolidation rather than trend reversal.” He added that “geopolitical worries and renewed US–India trade tension chatter weighed on sentiment, while the broader structure remains strong above key moving averages.”
Among sectoral indices, realty and defence stocks emerged the top performers, with gains exceeding 2 per cent in the previous session. However, the IT sector declined over 1.5 per cent as downgrade concerns weighed on major stocks. Defence stocks, including HAL, BEL and BDL, had gained over 2 per cent on Monday, while IT majors Infosys and HCL Tech declined on concerns over rating downgrades.
On the Nifty50, Hindalco led the gainers, surging 2.72 per cent to ₹957.05, followed by Bajaj Auto, which climbed 2.55 per cent to ₹9,740. ICICI Bank advanced 2.49 per cent to ₹1,405.60, Apollo Hospitals gained 2.18 per cent to ₹7,237.50, and Bajaj Finserv rose 1.55 per cent to ₹2,070.80.
On the losing side, Trent plunged 7.21 per cent to ₹4,110.40, emerging as the biggest loser. Reliance Industries fell 3.29 per cent to ₹1,526.20, while TMPV declined 2.18 per cent to ₹365.40. HDFC Bank and Eterna both dropped 1.49 per cent to ₹962.95 and ₹277.60, respectively.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research at Kotak Securities, said that “after an early morning intraday rally, profit-booking occurred at higher levels, leading to a sharp correction in the market.” However, he maintained that “the medium-term market outlook remains positive” and that “26,150/85,200 and 26,100/85,000 remain key support zones.”
Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd, highlighted the impact of global developments, noting that “the US markets have largely ignored the Venezuelan crisis and moved ahead.” He suggested that “investors can also think of increasing the cash position in their portfolios, even while remaining invested” given the heightened uncertainty triggered by geopolitical events.
The banking sector showed resilience, with Vijayakumar pointing out that it is “moving to a stronger position supported by increasing credit growth, even though deposit mobilisation remains a challenge.”
In commodities, crude oil futures traded lower as the US administration planned meetings with oil companies to discuss boosting Venezuelan production. February crude oil futures on WTI were at $58.15, down 0.29 per cent, while January crude oil futures on MCX traded at ₹5,250 against the previous close of ₹5,270, down 0.38 per cent.
Gold and silver prices climbed amid safe-haven demand following geopolitical tensions, with rupee weakness providing additional support to domestic precious metal prices.