As of an hour before market close, the Sensex had declined by 503.18 points, or 0.62%, to 80,870.57, while the Nifty had dropped 135.70 points, or 0.55%, to 24,580.90.
In the afternoon trade, the markets were painted in red as both benchmark indices were in red. The Sensex dropped over 650 points to hover around 80,721, while the Nifty shed nearly 176 points to trade at 24,541.
At 11 AM IST, benchmark indices were in the red, with the Sensex slipping 415 points to 80,958, and the Nifty shedding 116 points to trade at 24,600, reflecting a 0.5% dip on both indices.
Indian benchmark indices opened in the green on Tuesday, hinting at a positive start to the trading session, but the momentum quickly fizzled out. Within minutes, both the Sensex and Nifty slipped into the red. As of now, the Sensex is trading at 81,186.71, down 205.46 points or 0.23%, while the Nifty is hovering at 24,682.90, lower by 33.70 points or 0.14%.
Indian markets started Tuesday’s session on a positive note. Both benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened in the green. The Sensex opened the session at 81,745.18, up by 0.46%. Similarly, the Nifty opened at 24,797.60, rising 0.33%.
The Nifty Bank index also kicked off trade with gains. The Nifty Bank began the day at 55,892.95, gaining 0.02%.
According to Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, markets are currently navigating a consolidation phase, where indices move within a tight range. “During a consolidation phase, where the market moves within a range, buy on dips is the ideal strategy. And this strategy is working well now. With a lot of uncertainty in geopolitics, tariffs and trade, the market will continue to remain volatile. Therefore, investors may persist with the strategy of buying on dips”.
“The concern in the market now is the high valuation, particularly in the broader market. But the trends in money flows into the market and the healthy trend of retail investors persisting with their investment for longer periods, indicate that Indian equities will remain at higher valuations for an extended period of time,” he added. “Since the MPC is expected to cut policy rate by 25 bp in the policy meet on 8th, rate sensitives are likely to be favoured in the coming days”.
5 Key Factors to Watch in Today’s Trade
Top gainers
The top gainers in early trade in the Sensex pack include Eternal, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Tata Steel.
Key laggards
The key laggards in today’s trading session in the Sensex-30 pack during the morning hours include Adani Ports, LT, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank.
Asian market sentiment
Asian stocks opened mostly in the green on Tuesday, mirroring Wall Street’s gains. Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.36%, while Australia’s ASX 200 posted a 0.19% gain. However, South Korean markets were closed for polling day.
US Future movement
US stock index futures showed slight declines in early trade as investors remained cautious about potential policy signals from the White House. Monday’s session ended mildly positive on the back of strong tech and energy counters, even as tariff tensions lingered.
Technical outlook: Support and resistance in focus
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, noted that markets showed resilience after an initial dip, rebounding from near the 24,500 mark.
“Technically, after an early sell-off, the market found support near 24,500 and bounced back sharply. We believe that the current market trend is non-directional, making level-based trading an ideal strategy for day traders,” Chouhan said.
He outlined crucial support and resistance levels:
Support: 24,650 and 24,700 (20-day SMA)
Resistance: 24,800 to 24,900
“Conversely, if the market falls below 24,650, selling pressure is likely to increase. Should it drop below this level, a correction could occur, bringing the market down to 24,500–24,450,” he added.
For Bank Nifty, the critical support is at 55,300. If the index holds above it, the next leg up could push it towards 56,100–56,500. A breach below 55,000, however, could expose it to further downside towards 54,700-54,300.