India’s benchmark equity indices opened marginally lower on Monday, reflecting cautious investor sentiment amid mixed global cues and sector-wide weakness. Early trade saw selling pressure across key sectors including metals, auto, IT, PSU banks, pharma, and financial services.
As of 9:28 am, the BSE Sensex was down 75.59 points or 0.09% at 83,357.30, while the NSE Nifty declined 18.25 points or 0.07% to 25,442.75.
Analysts attribute the cautious start to investor uncertainty around the pending India-US interim trade agreement ahead of the July 9 tariff deadline, as well as the implications of SEBI’s regulatory action involving Jane Street.
“If the trade deal materializes, it could act as a short-term positive trigger. However, concerns over the SEBI action on Jane Street and its potential impact on derivative volumes, stock exchanges, and brokerage firms are being closely monitored,” said Dr. V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. He added that while these developments may cause near-term turbulence, they are unlikely to alter the broader market trajectory over the long term.
In sector-specific indices, Nifty Bank slipped 50.95 points or 0.09% to 56,980.95. The Nifty Midcap 100 fell 8.20 points to 59,669.55, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 shed 7.60 points to trade at 19,025.45.
Among Sensex constituents, BEL, Tech Mahindra, Titan, Bajaj Finance, HCL Tech, SBI, Tata Steel, and ICICI Bank were among the notable laggards. On the other hand, Trent, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, and HDFC Bank emerged as early gainers.
On the institutional investment front, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹760.11 crore on July 4, marking their fifth consecutive day of net selling. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also turned net sellers, offloading ₹1,028.84 crore worth of equities the same day.
Globally, most Asian markets traded in the red, with indices in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Japan, China, and Jakarta all declining. Seoul was the sole regional gainer.
In the previous session on Thursday, Wall Street closed on a strong note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 344.11 points (0.77%) to close at 44,828.53, the S&P 500 rose 51.93 points (0.83%) to 6,279.35, and the Nasdaq advanced 207.97 points (1.02%) to finish at 20,601.10.
