Indian equity benchmarks opened slightly lower on Tuesday amid ongoing consolidation, with heavyweight stocks like L&T and Bajaj Finance trading in the red.
At 9:24 am, the BSE Sensex was down 152 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 81,221.39, while the NSE Nifty slipped 36.40 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 24,680.40.
Despite the weak opening in frontline indices, broader markets witnessed buying interest. The Nifty Midcap 100 index gained 167.85 points, or 0.29 per cent, to reach 57,943.40, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index was up by 107.85 points, or 0.60 per cent, at 18,202.05.
Sectorally, gains were led by auto, PSU banks, pharma, metal, realty, and media stocks. On the other hand, financial services, FMCG, energy, and private bank sectors saw some pressure.
Among the Sensex constituents, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, and Zomato emerged as top gainers. Meanwhile, L&T, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and Maruti Suzuki were among the major laggards.
Most Asian markets traded higher, with Tokyo, Shanghai, Jakarta, and Hong Kong contributing to the regional gains.
Analysts noted that the market is currently in a consolidation phase, where indices tend to trade within a defined range. “Buy on dips is the most suitable strategy in the current scenario,” said V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. “Amid global uncertainty related to geopolitics, tariffs, and trade, markets are likely to remain volatile.”
On the technical front, Nifty is expected to find immediate support at 24,700, followed by 24,600 and 24,500 levels. Resistance is seen near 24,800, with further upside barriers at 24,900 and 25,000.
In terms of institutional activity, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to reduce their exposure for the second straight session on June 2, offloading equities worth ₹2,589 crore. In contrast, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) maintained their buying streak for the tenth day, investing ₹5,313 crore on the same day.
-IANS