Indian markets opened lower amid rising crude prices and escalating geopolitical tensions, prompting cautious investor sentiment and widespread market fluctuations.
Indian equities started Tuesday on the back foot as a jump in crude prices and fresh geopolitical tension unsettled investors, with the Sensex and Nifty both opening lower. According to the Chinimandi report, Brent crude rose to about $91 a barrel after President Donald Trump said he would not extend an expiring US-Iran memorandum and warned of military action over alleged interference in the Strait of Hormuz. The benchmark gauges reflected the strain immediately: the Sensex opened at 77,418.97, while the Nifty began at 24,223.85, both below their previous closes.
The early selling was not uniform across the market. Broad indices were mostly firmer, but information technology and fast-moving consumer goods stocks came under pressure, while real estate and metal names led the gainers, the report said. On the BSE, companies including Mahindra & Mahindra, Eternal, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki, Bharat Electronics, Tata Steel and Reliance were among the better performers, while Infosys, IndiGo, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and Larsen & Toubro weighed on the index. Similar weakness was seen on the NSE, where ONGC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Grasim, Sun Pharma, Coal India and Axis Bank rose, but Infosys, Bharti Airtel, IndiGo, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserv and ITC fell.
Market watchers said the near-term tone remained fragile. Vipin Dixena told Chinimandi that the Nifty could stay under pressure as higher oil prices and geopolitical risks continued to dominate sentiment, although domestic institutional buying and a recovery from Monday’s intraday lows offered some support. Devarsh Vakil of HSL Prime Research said the Nifty had fallen for a fifth straight session and was trading below short-term averages, with 24,200 seen as immediate support and 24,430 to 24,600 acting as resistance. The rupee also weakened on Monday to 95.60 per dollar, its lowest level in two weeks, after the Reserve Bank of India shortened the deadline for its discounted foreign-exchange swap facility for non-resident deposits, raising concerns about dollar inflows.
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