Indian equity indices started Monday’s trade on a subdued note and soon declined, dragged by IT stocks. The NSE Nifty 50 opened 14 points, or 0.05%, higher at 26,343. The BSE Sensex rose 26 points, or 0.03%, to open at 85,788.
The Bank Nifty opened 170 points or 0.28% higher at 60,320. Similarly, the small and mid-cap stocks opened in the green. The Nifty Midcap opened 82 points or 0.13% higher at 61,448.
The Nifty IT index has declined by over 2% in today’s trade in the early hours. Infosys led the fall, losing 3%, followed by HCL Technologies, Persistent Systems, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, TCS, and others. All the constituents of NIfty IT were trading in the red.
The year 2026 has begun with major geopolitical developments that can have profound consequences. The US action in Venezuela has the potential to further destabilise global geopolitics. The Russia-Ukraine conflict is likely to linger longer; there can be worsening of the protests in Iran, and how the Iranian regime reacts to that in the context of the threat of intervention by Trump, said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments. Perhaps, even China might use this time of huge uncertainty for the annexation of Taiwan.
“The huge uncertainty and unpredictability of geopolitics will influence the market, too. We will have to wait and watch how things unfold. A positive for India from the Venezuelan crisis is that its medium to long-term impact is bearish for crude,” he added.
“Technically, on weekly charts, it has formed a bullish candle, and on daily charts, it is holding an uptrend continuation formation, which is largely positive,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities.
“For trend-following traders, 26,250 and 26,100 would act as key support zones. As long as the market is trading above these levels, the bullish momentum is likely to continue. On the higher side, the market could continue rallying till 26,500. Further upside may also push the index up to 26,700. However, below 26,100, the uptrend would become vulnerable,” added Chouhan.
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 ONGC, Coal India, Bharat Electronics, Nestle India, and State Bank of India. On the flip side, the key laggards in the Nifty 50 pack included HCL Technologies, Infosys, Wipro, HDFC Bank, and Tech Mahindra.
Major movers on Monday
The stocks that were the major movers in the opening trade included HDFC Bank, Infosys, Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries, and Kotak Mahindra Bank, which were the major movers in the morning trade.