Synopsis
Indian stock markets opened lower on Wednesday. Sensex and Nifty saw minor declines. Investors are watching U.S. strikes against Iran and their effect on hopes for a peace deal. Larger markets perform better. India’s VIX, a measure of volatility, fell. Top Sensex losers included HDFC Bank and Infosys. Shares of Sun Pharma led the gains. Mid- and small-cap indices saw slight gains.
Listen to this article in summary form
YEARSIndian markets opened with slight declines on Wednesday, with Sensex and Nifty seeing slight declines. Investors are closely monitoring the impact of US strikes on Iran, hoping for a peace deal.Indian stock market opened in the red on Wednesday with Sensex And Clever posting only marginal losses, as investors weighed the impact of U.S. strikes on Iran on hopes for a peace deal, even as broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks.
Sensex fell around 70 points to open near 75,940, while Nifty 50 fell over 33 points or 0.14 per cent to begin the session at 23,880 on Wednesday. This happened even as the India VIX, which measures market volatility, fell more than 3% to 16.13 in the early morning.
HDFC Bank, Infosys, Axis Bank, Asian paintings, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HCL technology And Trusted Industries stocks were the worst losers on Sensex, falling as much as 1%. Bucking the trend, shares of Sun Pharma rose over 1% to lead the gains, followed by ITC, Bharat Electronics (BEL), ICICI Bank and others.
The Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices recorded marginal gains. The Nifty Metal index gained almost 0.5% to lead the gains, while Nifty Oil & Gas fell 0.2%. Around 1,433 stocks advanced on NSE, while 760 declined and 163 remained unchanged.
“With the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Nikkei setting new records and KOSPI and Taiex being bought lower, the bull rally in these markets shows no signs of slowing down. As long as this trend continues, the Indian market will remain lagging, weighed down by FII sales,” said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments.
He added that the market appears to be ignoring the concentration risk associated with the ongoing AI trade. “We don’t know how long this will last and when India will become attractive to FIIs again. It will definitely happen, but the timing is unknown,” he said.
There are some positive developments compared to the fourth quarter results, according to the analyst. “Overall, the results turned out to be better than expected. Mid-caps outperformed large-caps. A significant trend is that earnings growth has outpaced revenue growth. Slow revenue growth is indicative of weak demand conditions in the economy. Well-valued financial stocks have good prospects. Segments like pharmaceuticals with inelastic demand and good exports are showing great resilience as this segment will continue to do well even during difficult times for the economy,” Vijayakumar said.
US-Iranian tensions increase
The United States and Iran appear to be moving closer to a long-awaited deal to end the Middle East war and open the Strait of Hormuz, but tensions are simmering as the United States carries out strikes against Iran. Tehran said Tuesday the United States had violated a ceasefire by striking targets near the disputed Strait of Hormuz, potentially complicating efforts to end the war.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the U.S. strikes in southern Iran’s Hormozgan province, where Iranian media reported sounds of explosions on Tuesday, represented a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire in force for nearly seven weeks. The United States said its attacks were defensive in nature, targeting missile sites and boats attempting to lay mines.
Meanwhile, Israel pounded Lebanon with more than 120 airstrikes on Tuesday, in one of the most intense days of bombardment in weeks, Lebanese security sources said. Iran has sought to end Israeli attacks in Lebanon as part of any peace deal.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it could take “a few days” to “negotiate an agreement to end the conflict”, after both sides previously indicated progress on an initial deal that would end hostilities and restart shipping across the strait. This initial agreement would give negotiators 60 days to address more complex issues, including Iran’s nuclear program.
(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
(What’s moving Sensex And Clever Track latest market news, stock market advice, Budget 2025, Equity market on the 2025 budget And expert adviceon AND Markets. Additionally, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For the fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stock market alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .)
Subscribe to AND Bonus and read it Electronic document on economic times Online.and Sensex today.
Most trending stocks: SBI share price, Axis Bank share price, HDFC Bank share price, Infosys share price, Wipro stock price, NTPC stock price
…moreless
(You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp Channel)
(What’s moving Sensex And Clever Track latest market news, stock market advice, Budget 2025, Equity market on the 2025 budget And expert adviceon AND Markets. Additionally, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For the fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stock market alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .)
Subscribe to AND Bonus and read it Electronic document on economic times Online.and Sensex today.
Most trending stocks: SBI share price, Axis Bank share price, HDFC Bank share price, Infosys share price, Wipro stock price, NTPC stock price
…moreless
