Sensex opens higher 357 pts as HDFC Bank and Axis Bank rally. Crude falls to $72. FIIs sold Rs 2,716 cr last week. Q1 earnings season begins with TCS, L&T Finance.
Equity benchmarks opened the holiday-shortened week in the green, with banking heavyweights leading the charge. Gains came despite the broader market showing caution, and crude oil's slide gave energy-cost sensitive sectors a tailwind.
At 9:38 a.m., the Sensex traded at 78,121.45, up 357.54 points, or 0.46%. The Nifty 50 rose 101.25 points, or 0.42%, to 24,372.10. Both indices followed a weekly gain of about 0.9%, with the Nifty Midcap 150 and Smallcap 250 up 0.9% and 1.2% respectively.
HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were among the top gainers, rising after their quarterly business updates. Bharat Electronics and Hindalco also advanced. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Power Grid, and TCS were the laggards. The broader market stayed positive, with the midcap index up 0.19% and smallcaps up 0.11%.
Sectoral performance was mixed. Chemicals and healthcare indices led, with gains of 0.5% to 0.7%. Cement, Media, and Financial Services indices traded lower.
In the Nifty Midcap 100, Hitachi Energy and GE Vernova T&D rose 2.5% to 4%, alongside Nykaa and Bharat Dynamics. Suzlon, KPIT Technologies, and BSE fell 1% to 2%. Among smallcaps, Welspun Corp and Poonawalla Fincorp gained 2% to 3%, while Zensar Technologies and Ola Electric dropped 2% to 6%.
Brent crude oil extended its recent fall, trading near $72 per barrel. Lower energy costs typically support sectors with high input costs, though the direct benefit to individual companies varies.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers last week, offloading Rs 2,716 crore in the cash market. Domestic institutional investors absorbed that flow, buying Rs 12,634 crore, a pattern that has helped cushion the market against sustained overseas selling.
Traders now shift focus to the first-quarter FY27 earnings season. TCS, L&T Finance, and Anand Rathi are scheduled to report in the second half of the week. The results will offer an early read on demand trends across IT and financial services.
Asian markets traded mixed on Monday. U.S. markets were closed Friday for the holiday.
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.