Sensex Opens Positive, Gains 256 Points; Experts Cite Middle-East Tensions

India’s equity markets opened higher on Tuesday, buoyed by strong performances in banking stocks and gains in UltraTech Cement, NTPC, and L&T among others on the BSE benchmark index.

By 9:59 a.m., the Sensex had risen by 258 points or 0.32% to 81,308, while the Nifty climbed 58.20 points or 0.23% to 24,853.

Leading the charge in the Sensex were UltraTech Cement, M&M, Axis Bank, HUL, SBI, L&T, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and IndusInd Bank. On the other hand, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Wipro, Titan, HCL Tech, Infosys, TCS, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki, and Nestle saw declines.

The banking sector emerged as a major driver, with Nifty Bank advancing 262 points or 0.56% to 50,759. Among sectoral indices, financial services, PSU banks, FMCG, media, private banks, infrastructure, services, and healthcare posted significant gains, while auto, IT, metal, realty, and energy sectors lagged.

Midcap and smallcap stocks also saw buying interest. The Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 376 points or 0.66% to 57,676, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index increased 108 points or 0.60% to 18,351.

Across Asia, markets showed mixed activity, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Seoul in the red, while Bangkok and Jakarta were trading higher. U.S. stock markets closed lower on Monday.

Market experts attributed the recent market volatility to negative signals from escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, significant foreign portfolio investor (FPI) outflows, and election-related concerns. “The net FPI selling of ₹50,011 crore over the last six sessions has been largely offset by domestic institutional investor (DII) buying of ₹53,203 crore,” they said, adding that accumulating quality blue-chip financial and IT stocks remains a sound strategy amidst the current volatility.