Opening Bell: Nifty, Sensex open flat; Bank, FMCG stocks increase, while Metal is the leading decliner

The Indian market opened with slight losses on Monday, extending pessimism. Benchmark indices Nifty50 and Sensex opened little lower. The 30-share Sensex began trading at 52,851.67, while the Nifty50 index as a whole opened at 15,710.50. The barometer readings, however, changed course and moved into the positive territory.

As India VIX held above the 22-mark, Nifty midcap increased by 0.6 percent, and smallcap index was trading higher by 0.7 percent.

Nifty IT, Metal, and Energy experienced sectoral declines in the opening trade, while all other indices maintained gains.

The Sensex dropped by more than 50 points in the pre-open as 15 equities on the 30-share index rose, 14 fell, and one remained neutral.

“Market movement this month is likely to be significantly influenced by the Q1 results starting with TCS’s results on 8th July. More than the actual numbers, the market will be focussed on the guidance. Similarly, in financials, particularly banking, the market will be keen to know the trends in credit growth rather than the decline in treasury income, which is already known,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services

Despite many obstacles, the economic recovery is gaining steam as evidenced by the robust GST collections and June auto data, which is encouraging for the market’s performance in H2 FY23, according to the expert.

“In the present context of high near-term uncertainty, the best strategy for investors would be to buy high-quality large-caps in a calibrated manner and wait with patience,” he added.

On Monday morning, the signals from the Asian and international markets were previously mixed.

On Monday morning, the SGX Nifty Futures, which predicts the Indian market’s opening trend, were trading more than 30 points down.

However, the Hang Seng Index at the Hong Kong Exchange fell by about 1%, the Chinese Shanghai Composite traded flat with a bearish tilt, and the Japanese Nikkei 225 index rose by 0.7 percent.

Prior to that, Friday’s US market closing was positive. Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P 500, three major US equity indices, finished higher by 0.9 to 1.06 percent.