Indian equity indices are trading on a lower note in Tuesday’s trading session as tensions in West Asia escalate. The NSE Nifty 50 was down 72 points, or 0.29%, at 24,874, while the BSE Sensex fell 205 points, or 0.25%, to trade at 81,590.
In line with the overall markets, Bank Nifty opened 37 points or 0.07% higher at 55,982. The Nifty Midcap 100 opened 21 points or 0.04% higher at 58,789.
“Despite the escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict globally, stock markets are steady and resilient. The decline in the US volatility index CBOE suggests that markets are unlikely to correct sharply unless the conflict takes a dramatic turn for the worse. The main contributor to the market resilience is the retail investors using every dip in the market as a buying opportunity,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.
“Valuations do not appear to deter retail investors. During the last 4 trading days after the conflict started, FIIs sold stocks for Rs 8,080 crores. This FII selling has been completely eclipsed by DII buying of Rs 19,800 crores,” added Vijayakumar.
“On daily charts, it has formed a bullish candle, and on intraday charts, it is holding an uptrend continuation formation, which is broadly positive. We believe that the 20-day SMA or the 24,850 and 24,775 levels are key support zones for day traders, while 25,100 and 25,150 would act as crucial resistance levels for the bulls,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities.
Here are key highlights from the early session-
Top performers leading the charge
Among the top gainers on the Nifty 50 were Asian Paints, Adani Ports and SEZ, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and State Bank of India. The top movers in the Nifty 50 were SBI, Asian Paints, Kotak Bank, BEL, and NTPC as soon as markets opened.
Stocks in the red
The stocks that remained under pressure included ONGC, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, and Bajaj Finance were the laggards in the morning trade.
Israel-Iran conflict
Israeli missiles hit Tehran on Monday, just hours after US President Donald Trump urged “everyone” to evacuate the Iranian capital immediately in a social media post. The warning came amid escalating tension between Iran and Israel. Shortly before the blasts, the Israeli military confirmed that it had detected incoming missiles launched from Iran.