BT Opening Bell | Sensex rises 422 pts, Nifty above 23,500; Asian Paints, Adani Ports lead index gainers

Domestic benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened higher on Wednesday, amid mixed global market cues after witnessing sharp selling pressure in recent sessions. However, investor sentiment remained cautious amid lingering geopolitical tensions, which kept crude oil prices elevated and weighed on the market.

At 9:18 am, the BSE Sensex rose 119.65 points, or 0.16%, to 74,678.89, after rising as much as 422 points in early trade, while the NSE Nifty climbed 38.90 points, or 0.16%, to 23,418.45, briefly touching a high of 23,503.80.

Among Sensex constituents, Asian Paints jumped 4.05% to Rs 2607. Adani Ports rose 1.38%, while Tata Steel, L&T, and Kotak Mahindra Bank Bank gained 1.32%, 0.76% and 0.61%, respectively.

“The market has been discounting an early resolution to the West Asia  crisis and decline in the price of crude. Now, this appears difficult. Consequently, India’s macros are taking a hit,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd.

“The downside risk to India’s growth and upside risk to inflation has increased. This has negative implications for markets. With the AI trade still intact, FIIs are likely to continue on the sell-mode,” Vijayakumar added.

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Global stock markets

Broader Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading 0.30% higher at 62,930.20, while South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.62% to 7,767.20. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.43% to 26,234.77. 

Wall Street ended mostly lower overnight, with two of the three major indices closing in the red. The S&P 500 edged down 0.16% to settle at 7,400.96, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average also edged up 0.11% to close at 49,760.56. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.71% to end at 26,088.20.

Previous session

In the previous session on Tuesday, the Sensex plunged 1456.04 points, or 1.92%, to settle at 74,559.24, while the Nifty slumped 436.30 points, or 1.83%, to close at 23,379.55.

“Technically, the 23,300–23,150 zone remains a crucial support area, and a sustained breakdown below this region could accelerate downside pressure toward the 23,000–22,900 levels. On the upside, the 23,500–23,600 band is expected to act as immediate resistance, followed by the broader 23,900–24,000 zone,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money.