Sensex Opens 111 Points Higher, Nifty Above 24,000 As IT Stocks Extend Rally Despite Global Chip Selloff

Stock Market Today, July 28: Indian benchmark indices opened marginally higher on Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, even as a sharp selloff in Asian technology stocks kept investor sentiment cautious. Buying in information technology shares supported the domestic market, while weakness in banking and metal stocks capped gains.

At around 9:20 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 111.92 points, or 0.15%, higher at 76,947.70, while the Nifty 50 rose 42.80 points, or 0.18%, to 24,038.75.

IT Stocks Lead Gains; Banks Under Pressure

The IT sector continued Monday’s momentum and emerged as the top-performing sector in early trade. The Nifty IT index surged 2.48%, led by strong gains in TCS (+2.78%), Infosys (+2.54%), Tech Mahindra (+2.23%), and HCL Technologies (+1.67%).

FMCG stocks also

remained firm, with the Nifty FMCG index gaining 0.62%, while Realty and Media indices traded in positive territory.

On the downside, PSU Banks, Oil & Gas, Metals and Auto stocks witnessed mild profit booking. Bank Nifty slipped 0.08% to 57,043.95, indicating a mixed trend in financial stocks.

Broader Market Largely Subdued

The broader market was largely subdued. The Nifty Midcap 100 was flat, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 0.08%, suggesting stock-specific action beyond frontline counters.

V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd, said, “There are many positive factors that have the potential to sustain the mild rally in the market. The rally is unlikely to be consistent and steady. There will be occasional profit booking and corrections. The positives for the market are: One, the sharp correction in Brent crude to $87 is a strong fundamental and sentiment positive for the market. Two, the progress of the monsoon in July is good and this has brought down the monsoon rainfall deficit to 15.4%.”

Three, the Q1 results declared, so far, indicate earnings revival and this has the potential to sustain in the coming quarters. Fourth, credit growth in the economy is impressive running at around 18% and there is good volume growth in sectors like automobiles, he added.

“On the external front, the weakening of the chip trade globally is a positive for India,” Vijayakumar said.

Asian Markets Witness Sharp Selloff

Asian equities fell sharply on Tuesday as investors dumped semiconductor stocks amid growing concerns over the enormous funding requirements of the global artificial intelligence boom and rising competition from China.

South Korea’s Kospi plunged more than 8%, triggering a circuit breaker, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped around 4% after a steep decline in US semiconductor stocks overnight.

The selloff followed reports that Nvidia is discussing nearly $250 billion in financing guarantees for OpenAI’s data centre expansion, raising fresh concerns over AI infrastructure spending.

Technology stocks across Asia came under intense pressure. South Korea’s SK Hynix fell nearly 11%, Samsung Electronics dropped over 9%, while Japan’s Tokyo Electron and Kioxia also posted steep losses.

Oil Prices Extend Fall

Crude oil prices continued to decline after Monday’s sharp plunge as easing tensions between the United States and Iran reduced immediate supply concerns.

Brent crude slipped further after falling nearly 9% in the previous session. While lower oil prices are generally supportive for oil-importing economies such as India, investors remained cautious ahead of key global central bank decisions.

Market participants are also closely watching the US Federal Reserve meeting this week, with traders assigning a meaningful probability to another interest rate hike.

Technical View

Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities, said, “The benchmark indices staged a strong pullback rally on Monday, with the Nifty gaining 228 points and the Sensex advancing 776 points. Buying interest was broad-based, with almost all major sectoral indices ending in positive territory. However, the Tourism, Media, Realty, and IT indices outperformed, each rising more than 2%.”

Technically, after a gap-up opening, the market maintained positive momentum throughout the session and formed a bullish candle on the daily chart, indicating improving near-term sentiment, he added.

“We believe the pullback rally is likely to continue as long as the Nifty sustains above 23,800 (Sensex: 76,300). On the upside, the index could retest its 20-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) placed around 24,100–24,150 (Sensex: 77,000–77,300),” Chouhan said.

Conversely, a decisive break below 23,800 (Sensex: 76,300) could trigger renewed selling pressure. In that scenario, the Nifty may decline toward 23,700–23,600 (Sensex: 76,000–75,500), he said.

“Use the ongoing pullback to reduce weak long positions in the 24,100–24,200 zone. Fresh buying should be considered selectively on declines toward the 23,800–23,700 support area, where the risk-reward profile appears more favorable,” Chouhan added.