Nifty, Sensex open flat amid US tariff pressure, IPO openings to keep markets busy this week

MUMBAI: The stock market opened flat in green on Monday after a sharp correction last week, as investor sentiment remained weak due to US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies on pharma and their impact on India.

The benchmark Nifty 50 index opened at 24,728.55, gaining 73.85 points or 0.30 per cent, while the BSE Sensex started the day at 80,588.77 with an increase of 162.31 points or 0.20 per cent.

Market experts noted that this week will see heavy activity in the primary markets, with multiple IPOs opening and several listings scheduled, making it an IPO-heavy week. However, they also cautioned that pressure on secondary markets may continue, especially for IT stocks.

Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market Expert said, “Asian markets are muted this morning. The RBI and the RBA rate decisions are in focus. It is a monthly expiry day for Indian derivatives on the NSE tomorrow, so rollovers will be watched, especially the massive short positions of FPIs. The primary markets seem to be in a different reality in India. 21 new issues open this week, while 26 companies will see their listing debuts. Block deals of OFSs continue apace, sucking out liquidity from secondary markets along with the IPOs. The IT sector is facing further pressure post the Accenture results and announcement of thousands of job cuts by it.”

In the broader market indices, Nifty 100 opened with gains of 0.23 per cent, Nifty Smallcap 100 rose by 0.33 per cent, while Nifty Midcap 100 gained 0.42 per cent.

On the sectoral front, except Nifty FMCG, all other sectors opened in the green. Nifty Auto was up 0.54 per cent, Nifty IT gained 0.33 per cent, Nifty Media rose 0.45 per cent, Nifty Metal added 0.47 per cent, Nifty Pharma climbed 0.45 per cent, while Nifty PSU Bank advanced 0.53 per cent.

Globally, U.S. stocks had a negative week with major indices falling between 0.2 to 0.8 per cent. The AI-driven rally witnessed some profit booking, and due to the concentrated nature of the U.S. markets, it had a broader impact.

Adding to this, a strong revision of U.S. Q2 GDP to 3.8 per cent and a mild PCE index reading indicated that tariffs have so far neither slowed the U.S. economy nor triggered runaway inflation.

However, concerns persist over a possible U.S. government shutdown at the end of the month due to political disagreements, raising risks of miscalculation.

On the technical front, Sudeep Shah, Head – Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, highlighted that Nifty IT has seen a steep fall, tumbling nearly 8 per cent last week.

“It has given a horizontal trendline breakdown on a daily scale and slipped below its 200-week EMA level. The weekly and daily RSI also slipped below the 40 mark, suggesting further weakness in the short term. Apart from this, Nifty Pharma, Healthcare, Consumer Durable, Financial Services, Capital Market, India Tourism, FMCG and Media are also likely to underperform in the short term,” he said.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was down 0.95 per cent, while other major markets gained. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up over 1 per cent, South Korea’s KOSPI gained 1.24 per cent, and Singapore’s Straits Times advanced 0.18 per cent. (ANI)