The Indian stock market opened on a steady note on Monday, with benchmark indices trading flat amid positive global cues and selective buying in PSU bank and IT stocks.
At around 9:27 am, the BSE Sensex was marginally higher by 1.35 points at 84,057.55, while the NSE Nifty gained 6.50 points, or 0.03 per cent, to trade at 25,644.30.
Analysts attributed the steady start to easing geopolitical tensions in West Asia, a sharp correction in Brent crude prices to 67 dollars per barrel, and encouraging signals on the trade front, including possible deals between the US, China and India.
Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said that large-cap counters like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and L&T have been key drivers of the recent rally due to institutional accumulation.
The Nifty Bank index in early trade was up by 15.15 points at 57,459.05. Meanwhile, the Nifty Midcap 100 advanced by 220.90 points to 59,606.05, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 153.35 points to trade at 19,130.15.
Within the Sensex pack, M&M, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, NTPC and UltraTech Cement were among the laggards in the opening session. On the other hand, Trent, SBI, L&T, Eternal, Axis Bank and Hindustan Unilever were trading in positive territory.
Continued weakness in the dollar index is supporting foreign fund inflows, while retail investor confidence remains strong. Market experts, however, advise caution when making fresh investments at elevated valuations despite the ongoing bull run.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers on June 27, picking up shares worth Rs 1,397.02 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors booked profits, selling equities worth Rs 588.93 crore.
In Asia, key markets such as China, Bangkok, Japan, Seoul and Jakarta were trading higher, while Hong Kong was in negative territory.
Overnight in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 43,819.27, up 432.43 points or 1 per cent. The S&P 500 gained 32.05 points to end at 6,173.07, and the Nasdaq added 105.55 points to close at 20,273.46.
-IANS