Indian Markets Turn Negative As Sensex Nifty Trim Early Morning Gains

Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, reversed early gains to trade in the negative on Monday, despite a positive opening driven by foreign institutional investor interest and a rally in several sectoral indices during the session.

Indian equity markets reversed their early gains on Monday, with the Sensex falling 150 points and the Nifty slipping below the 25,000 mark, after both benchmark indices began the week on a positive note amid foreign institutional investor (FII) buying. The NIFTY 50 index had opened at 25,076.40, gaining 90 points or 0.36 per cent, while the BSE Sensex started the session at 81,327.29, up 327.89 points or 0.40 per cent. However, the early momentum could not be sustained, and both indices moved into negative territory.

Market Drivers and Investor Outlook

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, said a combination of positive domestic and global developments had supported the recent market rally. "A rare convergence of positive news for India - FIIs turning aggressive buyers, fair valuations, winding down of AI trade, dip in crude price, decline in US bond yields and steadily improving corporate earnings as reflected in Q2 numbers- triggered the rally," he said.

He added that the victory of Democrats in the US elections had triggered concerns over a slowdown in AI spending and a correction in AI stocks, providing a trigger for the rally in Indian markets. "The FII buying in India is likely to sustain paving the way for further rally in large-caps. It is important to understand that FII allocations track index weights during major market shifts," Vijayakumar said.

Sectoral and Broader Market Performance

Despite the benchmark indices turning negative, most sectoral indices on the NSE had opened in positive territory. Nifty IT was the only sectoral index to begin the session lower, declining 0.38 per cent. Among other sectors, Nifty PSU Bank gained 0.60 per cent, while Nifty Private Bank advanced 0.62 per cent. Nifty Auto rose 0.10 per cent, Nifty Metal gained 0.26 per cent and Nifty FMCG was up 0.10 per cent. Nifty Media and Nifty Realty both advanced 0.08 per cent.

In the broader market, Nifty 100 opened 0.33 per cent higher and Nifty Midcap 100 gained 0.06 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 0.08 per cent. In commodities, Brent crude oil prices were down 0.10 per cent at USD 98.22 per barrel at the time of reporting. Gold prices rose around 0.9 per cent to Rs 1,43,880 per 10 grams for 24-carat gold, while silver gained 1.76 per cent to Rs 1,88,350 per kg.

Global Markets Overview

Asian markets largely traded higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped more than 3.2 per cent to 59,302, while Taiwan's Weighted Index surged 5.66 per cent to 41,941. South Korea's KOSPI gained 1.62 per cent to 5,146 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.05 per cent to 24,492. Singapore's Straits Times was the exception, declining 2.26 per cent to 5,179.

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