Markets Today: Sensex Opens 324 Points Higher, Nifty Holds 23,300; SMIDs Remain Mixed

Stock Market Today, September 21: The domestic equity markets opened largely steady on Monday, with the Sensex gaining over 300 points while the Nifty remained around the 23,350 mark amid mixed moves across sectors. At 9:16 am, the BSE Sensex was up 324 points, or 0.44%, at 74,618.96 , while the Nifty 50 was almost flat at 23,345.20.

Broader markets were mixed. The Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 0.19%, while the Nifty Smallcap 50 and Nifty Smallcap 250 gained 0.18% and 0.19%, respectively. In contrast, the Nifty Midcap 100 declined 0.26% and the Nifty Midcap 150 fell 0.27%.

The India VIX rose 3.24% to 11.76, indicating a rise in near-term market volatility.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Realty gained 0.85%, followed by FMCG, which rose 0.51%. Nifty Auto

advanced 0.34%, while Nifty Cement and Healthcare gained 0.34% and 0.18%, respectively. On the other hand, Nifty IT fell 0.54%, while Nifty MidSmall Financial Services declined 0.63% and Nifty Financial Services ex-Bank dropped 0.47%. PSU Bank was down 0.20%.

Among Sensex stocks, Ultracemco was the top gainer, rising 3.15%, followed by Asian Paints at 2.13%, Trent at 1.49%, IndiGo at 1.47% and Titan at 1.13%. Other gainers included ITC, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

On the losing side, Adani Ports fell 1.03%, Bharti Airtel declined 1.02%, Power Grid dropped 0.83% and Infosys slipped 0.77%.

The market opened with a mixed trend despite gains in several heavyweight stocks, with investors keeping an eye on sector-specific moves and broader market volatility.

V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd, said, “Global geopolitical risks are increasing. The conflicts in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war are escalating. However, Brent crude has declined to below $102 thanks to the increasing oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz. The US 10-year bond yields are hovering around 5%, posing a threat to equity markets. But equity markets are holding their ground, taking cues from the robust growth in developed economies and expectations of good corporate earnings. In India, too, this pattern is playing out.”

He added that GDP growth of 7% and Nifty earnings growth of 12-14% are achievable in FY27. The broader market earnings growth will be much better. These expectations are already in the price since the mid-and small-cap valuations are at a significant premium to large-caps.

“A sectoral pivot to large-caps is likely. But this will happen only when the Iran-US conflict is resolved and crude and bond yields decline. Investors should wait for this pivot and, meanwhile, accumulate high quality large-caps available at attractive valuations,” Vijayakumar said.