Indian stock market traded mixed on Monday, with Sensex in the red and Nifty in the green, even as oil prices inched higher after tensions between Iran and the US escalated over the weekend.
Sensex fell 45 points at 77,055 while Nifty 50 gained nearly 6 points at 24,061.75 during Monday's session. Broader markets meanwhile slipped into the red, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices falling 0.06% each.
Eternal, Sun Pharma and Tech Mahindra shares rose over 1% each to lead gains on Sensex, while Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndiGo, M&M, BEL and L&T shares declined up to 1.5%. This came even as India VIX, which measures volatility in market, gained 4.5% to 13.64
Sectorally, Nifty IT declined 0.4% to lead losses, while Nifty Pharma gained around 0.5%. Around 1,222 stocks advanced on NSE, while 1,276 declined and 182 remained unchanged.
What lies ahead?
"Even while the ludicrous stand off between US and Iran continues with occasional strikes and threats by each country, Brent crude remains low at below $73, thanks to the unrestricted passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments, who added that this is a big macro positive for India and has the potential to impart resilience to the market.
“Additionally, there are two more factors that can continue to support the market. One, relentless FII selling which has been weighing on markets has abated. During the last nine trading days, FIIs were buyers in the cash market, though by small amounts. Two, the South Korean and Taiwanese markets, which have been attracting massive investments have turned weak and excessively volatile. Last week India outperformed both South Korea and Taiwan,” he added.
However, the analyst highlighted that it is too early to conclude that the Indian market will continue to rally. A big concern now is the hugely deficient (43%) monsoon. If the monsoon revives and compensates for the deficit in the coming weeks, the market also will respond positively, he said. “In the coming days FY Q1 result expectations will influence the market. Lots of stock specific moves are likely,” according to Vijayakumar.
