Key Highlights:

  • Sensex rose 411 points to 74,706, while Nifty gained 33 points to 23,379 in early trade Monday.
  • Nifty Realty led sectoral gains, up 1.04%, followed by auto stocks up 0.65%.
  • Brent crude fell below $102 a barrel as oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz increased despite Middle East tensions.
  • US 10-year bond yields hovering near 5% pose a risk, though equities are holding ground on strong corporate earnings expectations.
  • Asian markets traded broadly higher, with South Korea's Kospi up 1.84% and Japan's Nikkei gaining 1.38%.

A Positive Start Driven by Realty and Easing Crude

The Indian equity markets opened on a positive note on Monday, driven by gains in realty stocks and a correction in crude oil prices, offering a constructive start to the trading week.

Opening Numbers

As of 9:20 am, the Sensex added 411 points, or 0.55 per cent, to reach 74,706, while the Nifty gained 33 points, or 0.14 per cent, to reach 23,379, with the Sensex notably outperforming the Nifty in percentage terms during early trade.

A Divergence With Broader Market Indices

Main broad-cap indices showed divergence with the benchmark indices, as the Nifty Midcap 100 declined 0.19 per cent, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 shed 0.04 per cent, indicating that Monday's early gains were concentrated more in large-cap stocks than across the broader market.

Sectoral Performance

Sectoral indices on the NSE traded mixed, with Nifty IT and PSU banks posting moderate losses. Nifty Realty was the top gainer, up 1.04 per cent, followed by auto, which gained 0.65 per cent, giving a clear picture of which sectors were driving the market's overall upward movement in early trade.

Crude Oil Prices Ease Despite Geopolitical Tensions

Despite the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Brent crude declined to below $102 due to increasing oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz, a development that appears to have eased some of the supply-side concerns that had previously kept crude prices elevated.

Bond Yields Remain a Lingering Concern

"The US 10-year bond yields are hovering around 5 per cent posing a threat to equity markets. But equity markets are holding their ground taking cues from the robust growth in developed economies and expectations of good corporate earnings. In India, too, this pattern is playing out," an analyst said, highlighting a market that continues to balance elevated yield-related risks against underlying optimism about corporate earnings performance.

A Mixed Global Backdrop

Global markets remain mixed, with Asian equities gaining on technology strength while easing crude prices are offering some relief across regional markets more broadly.

Nifty's Technical Levels

In the previous session, Nifty surged 0.33 per cent, and its immediate support was placed at 23,100-23,200, while resistance was seen at 23,400-23,500, giving traders a fairly narrow technical range to monitor as the current week's trading gets underway.

Bank Nifty's Recovery

In the previous session, Bank Nifty closed at 56,358.70, up 0.54 per cent, after recovering strongly from an intraday low of 56,073.55. Immediate support is placed at 55,800-56,000, while resistance is seen at 56,800-57,000, reflecting a notable intraday rebound in banking stocks during the last session.

Strength Across Asian Markets

In Asian markets, China's Shanghai index gained 0.58 per cent, and Shenzhen added 0.63 per cent. Japan's Nikkei added 1.38 per cent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.66 per cent. South Korea's Kospi added 1.84 per cent, marking one of the stronger performances among the regional indices and contributing to the broadly positive tone across Asian trading.

A Mixed Close on Wall Street

The US markets ended in the green on their last trading day, as the Nasdaq gained 0.4 per cent and the S&P 500 added 0.17 per cent, while the Dow Jones declined 0.18 per cent, reflecting a session where technology stocks outperformed more broadly diversified indices.

Institutional Investment Flows

On September 18, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought equities worth Rs 599 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,019 crore, indicating that both foreign and domestic investors turned net buyers in the most recent session for which data is available, a shift that could offer some encouragement after the extended period of FII selling seen in prior weeks.