Nifty under 25,900, Sensex sees subdued open amid caution as FIIs turn sellers, oil prices rise

Nifty 50 opened under the 26,000 mark.

Nifty 50 and Sensex, India's key headline indices, opened the session with mild losses on October 24, as the positive momentum slowed. A sharp fall in shares of FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever, following its September quarter earnings, dragged the benchmarks, while the BFSI pack also contributed to losses.

At 09:16 a.m., the Sensex was down 93.08 points or 0.11 percent at 84,463.32, and the Nifty was down 27.05 points or 0.10 percent at 25,864.35. About 1203 shares advanced, 905 shares declined, and 165 shares unchanged.

At the market open, sectoral indices were largely in the green, reflecting a positive start for equities. Nifty IT led the gains, rising 0.37 percent, followed by Nifty Pharma and Nifty Financial Services, which gained 0.17 percent each. Auto, Media, and Private Bank indices also saw modest advances.

On the other hand, Nifty FMCG was the only sector in the red, slipping 0.12 percent. Broader sectors such as Realty, Metal, and Healthcare traded with slight gains, indicating a steady but cautious sentiment across the board.

Overnight, Wall Street advanced as investors mulled a mixed batch of corporate earnings and shifting geopolitical concerns. All three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher, with tech strength nudging the Nasdaq into the lead. But the small-cap Russell 2000 was the clear outperformer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.31 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.58 percent and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.89 percent.

Today, Asian stocks opened higher as a planned meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping eased nerves around trade tensions. Oil prices edged lower ahead of US inflation data.

In the previous session, the indices couldn't sustain their early gains. The positive news regarding the trade deal was not confirmed by the Indian side. This dampened the spirits of the bulls who couldn’t force further short covering. "The shorts in the system has come down and, therefore, a strong short-covering rally, which can take the market up significantly is unlikely," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments.

However, according to experts, the market sentiment continue to remain high from hopes of US tariff cuts on Indian exports to 15-16 percent, though the upside could remain capped amid three negatives: oil prices spiking to $61.50 after US sanctions on Russian oil majors, renewed US-China trade tensions, and FIIs turning net sellers by Rs 1,165 crore.

On the institutional front, in the previous session, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs 1,165 crore on October 23, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) provided strong support, purchasing equities worth Rs 3,893 crore on the same day.

"The index continues to exhibit a sideways to bullish bias, holding firmly above key support levels at 25,700 and 25,750. Immediate resistance is placed at 25,950, with further upside targets at 26,000 and 26,100. The overall trend remains bullish, provided the index sustains above 25,780 on a closing basis," said Amruta Shinde, Technical & Derivative Analyst at Choice Equity Broking.

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