With escalation of tension at border, Nifty, Sensex open in negative

MUMBAI: Indian stock markets opened on a weak note on Thursday as geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan intensified along the border.
The heightened conflict triggered a wave of selling pressure in the domestic markets, dragging down key benchmark indices in the early session.

The Nifty 50 index dropped to 24,100.10, registering a fall of 173.70 points or 0.72 per cent. Similarly, the BSE Sensex declined by 585.95 points to settle at 79,748.86, marking a 0.73 per cent loss.

Market experts attributed the decline to concerns around the escalating tension between the two nations, which dampened investor sentiment despite strong underlying fundamentals.

Despite the temporary setback, analysts maintain that the broader outlook for the Indian markets remains positive. They pointed out that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continue to infuse capital into Indian equities, showing confidence in the economy’s long-term growth potential even amid geopolitical uncertainty.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments said “The domestic macros construct is further rendered stronger by the high GDP growth expected this year and the declining interest rate environment. These are the reasons why FIIs have been on a buying spree in the Indian market during the last sixteen trading sessions. Investors should not panic and exit from the market now. Remain invested, monitor the developments and wait for the dust to settle.”

Sectorally, the pressure was broad-based with nearly all indices trading in the red at the time of filing the report. Nifty Metal led the fall, declining by more than 1 per cent. Nifty Realty and Nifty Auto were also in the negative zone, reflecting the widespread cautious sentiment among investors.

Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities said “The selling inflicted some short-term damage by sending the nifty below 24200 on an intraday basis, but the big level bulls need to protect is 24,000 and then the critical 23872. On the upside, the near-term bias will turn bullish only on a break of the 24450 – 24589 zone. The gift nifty opened nearly 350 points down but half an hour into trade had recovered somewhat, so we should brace for volatility”.

On the global front, performance in other major Asian markets was mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index surged by 1.47 per cent, while Taiwan’s Weighted index gained 1.19 per cent. Singapore’s Straits Times advanced 0.51 per cent. However, markets in Hong Kong and South Korea were trading in negative territory at the time of reporting. (ANI)