Markets Shrug Off Early Jitters: Sensex Revives After Early Slip, Nifty Above 24,700

Markets today: Benchmark indices wiped off early losses as D-street mood revived. The Indian stock market continued its consolidation phase for the third consecutive week as D-street sentiment remained volatile. The volatility gauge, Nifty Vix, surged over 6.72% in just a single trading session after experiencing a steady downtrend.

The BSE Sensex index concluded the session at 81,373.75, marking a marginal plummet of 77 points. Whereas, the 50-stock pack, NSE Nifty ended Monday's trading session at 24,716.60 level, down by just 34 points.

Investor mood remained volatile as geopolitical worries rose owing to escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. However, D-street analysts continued to take a positive stance as the broader movement of the Indian stock market remained resilient. "While global uncertainties have led investors to adopt a risk-averse approach, the Indian market has demonstrated resilience, underpinned by robust institutional inflows and selective sectoral strength like FMCG, real estate and financial stocks," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments.

Supportive domestic macro indicators include a potential RBI rate cut, a better monsoon, Q4 GDP data and better GST collection, Nair added.

The RBI MPC meet is scheduled for this week with analysts expecting a rate cut in the upcoming monetary policy decision.

Top Gainers & Losers

From the Sensex Pack, the majority of the stocks remained in the red territory. Among the top gainers were Adani Ports, Mahindra and Mahindra, Powergrid, Eternal (Zomato), HUL and Bajaj Finserv. Whereas, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Titan, HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank were among the top losers.

Sectorally, Nifty metal was the worst-performing index during Monday's trading session, dropping over 64 points or 0.7%. Nifty IT followed suit, and was down by 259 points or 0.7%. The Nifty PSU Bank index, on the other hand, remained on top, surging over 149 points or 2.15%.

What should investors do?

"Under the current market landscape, investors are adopting a cautious short-term strategy, with a focus on domestically oriented and interest-sensitive sectors," Nair said.

D-Street analysts continue to raise the banners of cautious optimism. However, as signals remain largely mixed due to uncertainties on the geopolitical front, any sharp directional move remains unlikely in the near term at least.

"On the index front, Nifty’s rebound after an intraday dip below its short-term moving average (20 DEMA) indicates that the bulls are not ready to loosen their grip, keeping hopes of a recovery alive. Amidst all this, buoyancy in select themes and the broader market is offering ample trading opportunities, so participants should remain focused accordingly," said Ajit Mishra– SVP, research, Religare Broking Ltd.