Stock Market Updates: Sensex Opens Flat, Nifty Above 17,900; Nykaa Drops 4%

Sensex Today: Sensex, and Nifty opened flat and traded in the green on Tuesday morning as investors eye global cues. Besides, stock-specific reaction amid Q3 results, nervousness ahead of the Union Budget, and foreign fund flow will guide the indices through the day. The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 37 points to quote at 60,130 levels in early deals, while the Nifty50 stayed below 18,000-mark.

HUL, HCL Tech, L&T Reliance Industries, Tech M, and NTPC were the notable gainers on the 30-pack index as they gained between 0.3 per cent and 1 per cent. On the contrary, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Titan, M&M, Sun Pharma, and Axis Bank fell up to 0.85 per cent, capping upside.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and the BSE SmallCap indices underperformed the frontline indices by falling 0.1 per cent each.

Sectorally, the Nifty IT index was the top gainer (up 0.4 per cent), while the Nifty Metal index was the worst hit (down 0.6 per cent).

Among individual stocks, shares of Reliance Industries and ONGC gained up to 0.85 per cent. In a late night notification on Monday, Centre announced a cut in its windfall tax on crude to Rs 1,900 ($23.28) per tonne from Rs 2,100 per tonne, effective Tuesday.

That apart, shares of M&M fell 0.6 per cent after the company announced pricing for XUV400, its first electric SUV, at Rs 15.99 lakh.

Those of Siemens zoomed over 3 per cent after it signed a Rs 26,000-crore contract to manufacture 1,200 electric freight locomotives for the Indian Railways.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “The dominant trend impacting the near-term texture of the market is the sustained selling by FIIs for the eleventh time this month. There is selling even in bluechip names like HDFC Bank, that too, after impressive Q3 results. The simple logic behind sustained FII selling is that India is the only large market where FIIs are still sitting on good profits after the disastrous 2022 performance in most global markets. FIIs are playing it safe by moving money to cheaper markets where there is valuation comfort. The sustained FII selling has turned the near-term structure of the market weak. The best investment strategy in the present weak market would be to systematically buy high quality large-caps in performing sectors like banking, capital goods, telecom and construction-related segments. Soon, India’s strong fundamentals will bring cheer to the market.”

Global Cues

Globally, trade in Asia began on a mixed note today, ahead of China GDP data and the Bank of Japan’s two-day monetary policy meeting. Nikkei was up over a per cent, the Shenzhen Component rose 0.2 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.24 per cent.

Wall Street was shut overnight due to a public holiday.

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