Sensex opens 119 points higher, Nifty above 25,100; Tata Motors up 1%

Benchmark stock indices opened higher on Tuesday, breaking their recent losing streak as strong performances in auto and energy sectors lifted overall sentiment. The BSE Sensex climbed 176.33 points to 82,429.79, while the NSE Nifty50 rose 63.50 points to 25,145.80 as of 9:29 AM.

According to Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, the market is currently drifting without clear directional cues. He noted a key shift: foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who were net buyers in April, May, and June, have turned net sellers in July, adding pressure to large-cap stocks.

“However, the absence of institutional selling in the broader market is keeping mid and smallcaps resilient despite high valuations,” he added.

Top Gainers and Losers

Among the early gainers:

• Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) rose 0.87%

• Bharti Airtel gained 0.70%

• Kotak Mahindra Bank increased 0.59%

• Sun Pharma added 0.56%

• Tata Motors edged up 0.44%

On the downside:

• HCLTech slid 2.83%

• Eternal fell 0.77%

• Power Grid Corporation declined 0.07%

• Axis Bank dipped 0.11%

• Tata Steel dropped 0.47%

Broader Market & Sectoral Highlights

The Nifty Midcap100 and Smallcap100 gained 0.51% and 0.76%, respectively, while India VIX, a measure of market volatility, eased 0.77%.

Most sectoral indices showed strength:

• Nifty Media led the gains at 0.97%

• Nifty Auto rose 0.72%

• Nifty Oil & Gas was up 0.73%

• Nifty Consumer Durables gained 0.55%

Other positive movers included Realty, Pharma, Healthcare, FMCG, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Financial Services, Metal, and IT.

Macro Trends & Outlook

Vijayakumar highlighted growing short positions by FIIs in the derivatives market, suggesting a potential for short covering-led rallies—though no immediate triggers are visible.

A positive macro development was the sharp decline in June CPI inflation to 2.10%, well below the RBI’s FY26 forecast of 3.7%, reviving rate cut expectations.

“Lower-than-expected inflation could become a key catalyst in coming sessions,” he concluded.