Stock Market Today Highlights: Sensex and Nifty Face Early Pressure

Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Monday, giving up ground after ending the special Diwali Muhurat trading session in the red on Sunday. The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty began the session in negative territory, facing profit-booking following a seven-day rally. Market participants are closely tracking the stock market today as indices navigate a test of momentum amid shifting global cues.

V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments, stated that a rare convergence of positive factors had previously triggered the rally, including increased buying by foreign institutional investors, fair valuations, lower crude oil prices, a decline in US bond yields, and improving corporate earnings. He noted that the winding down of the AI trade and the victory of Democrats in US elections also supported the market environment.

Despite the indices opening lower, most sectoral indices on the NSE began the session with gains. Nifty IT was the sole sectoral index to open lower, declining by a small margin. Meanwhile, SBI led the gainers, while other major stocks such as NTPC, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank traded in positive territory. Asian equity markets similarly began the week attempting to recover after a sharp technology-led selloff during the previous week.

Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Monday as investors booked profits following a seven-day rally.

Crude oil prices declined at the start of the trading week after US President Donald Trump indicated that fresh American attacks on Iran were unlikely if negotiations continued to make progress. Brent crude futures and US West Texas Intermediate crude both recorded downward movements, reversing modest gains from the previous session.

Why it matters

The movements in domestic equity indices and global commodities affect financial portfolios and investor sentiment across India and international markets. As domestic equities face near-term profit-taking and weigh global economic cues, the upcoming economic data and foreign institutional investor allocations will dictate the immediate direction for large-cap stocks.