Stock market today: Nifty50 and BSE Sensex, the Indian equity benchmark indices, opened on a choppy note on Tuesday. While Nifty50 was above 24,900, BSE Sensex was near 81,750. At 9:18 AM, Nifty50 was trading at 24,933.10, down 13 points or 0.054%. BSE Sensex was at 81,743.28, down 53 points or 0.065%.The ongoing Israel-Iran situation will keep defence and oil-related stocks under observation, whilst sectors connected to monsoon such as fertilisers, agro-chemicals, and rural FMCG may gain traction due to forecasts of above-average rainfall.VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited says, “Despite the escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict globally stock markets are steady and resilient. The decline in the US volatility index CBOE suggests that markets are unlikely to correct sharply unless the conflict takes a dramatic turn for the worse. The main contributor to the market resilience is the retail investors using every dip in the market as a buying opportunity. Valuations do not appear to deter retail investors. During the last 4 trading days after the conflict started FIIs sold stocks for Rs 8080 crores. This FII selling has been completely eclipsed by DII buying of Rs 19800 crores. Sustained retail funds flows, mainly through SIPs, are empowering the DIIs to buy consistently. “Nifty has support at 24500 level and is likely to face resistance at 25000 level. Even while exercising some caution, it makes sense to remain invested in this market and to buy the dips.”US markets finished positively on Monday, as petroleum prices declined after Israel-Iran confrontations left oil production and distribution undisturbed, reducing worries about inflation from higher energy costs. Asian equities declined, with marginal gains in Japanese and South Korean markets, following Wall Street’s positive session where the S&P 500 advanced approximately 1%, surpassing 6,000.The US dollar strengthened slightly on Tuesday, whilst most currencies remained within narrow ranges as investors remained cautious about Middle East tensions and anticipated upcoming central bank meetings.Oil prices increased more than 2% on Tuesday as tensions between Iran and Israel escalated, with US President Donald Trump calling for evacuation of Tehran, raising concerns about regional stability and oil supply disruptions.FPIs were net sellers of Rs 2,539 crore on Monday, whilst DIIs purchased shares worth Rs 5,781 crore net.FII net short positions in futures decreased from Rs 1.04 lakh crore on Friday to Rs 1.01 lakh crore on Monday.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market and other asset classes given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)
