Indian equity indices opened Monday’s trading session on a positive note. The NSE Nifty 50 opened 62 points or 0.25% higher at 24,488. The BSE Sensex opened 178 points or 0.22% higher at 79,988.
Similarly, Bank Nifty surged 157 points or 0.29% to open at 53,813. Following the benchmarks, the small and midcap stocks opened the day higher. The Nifty Midcap rose 198 points or 0.36% to open at 55,925.
According to market veteran, Ajay Bagga, “September is seasonally not a positive month for the markets, but Indian markets may show some September surprise. Huge FPI outflows, underwhelming corporate earnings, and fragile sentiment on the back of punitive Trump Tariffs of 50% all contributed to a second successive negative month for Indian markets. India has a small booster in the form of April-June quarterly GDP numbers coming in very robust at 7.8% YoY growth. Indian futures are slightly up, with some optimism around stronger China-India economic ties following a successful SCO meeting between PM Modi and President Xi over the weekend.”
VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, pointed out that the simple explanation for this massive selling by the FIIs is the relatively high valuations in India compared to valuations in other markets. FIIs are moving money to cheaper markets. It is important to note that FIIs have been sustained buyers in the primary market for a long time. “This year, despite massive selling through the exchanges, FIIs bought equity for Rs 40,305 crore through the primary market, where the valuations of the IPOs are fair.” He added that the “Sudden changes in tariff policies and exchange rates are also weighing on FII behaviour. These factors are likely to remain volatile in the near-term.”
Let’s take a look at the key factors to watch out for today’s trading session
Early gainers and laggards
In early trade, among the Nifty 50, top gainers at this hour were Infosys, Power Grid Corp, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, and Adani Enterprises. On the flip side, the key laggards in the Nifty 50 pack included Jio Financial Services, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, and Maruti Suzuki.
FII flows negative
FIIs continued their selling spree in August, taking the total selling through exchanges to Rs 39,063 crores. With this August selling total, FIIs selling in 2025, so far, have reached Rs 1,70,940 crores. This has come on the back of the total selling of Rs 1,21,210 crores by FIIs in 2024.
