Mumbai, April 20: The Indian stock market opened flat on Monday amid ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran. At 9:17 AM, the Sensex was down by 137.14 points or 0.17%, standing at 78,356.40, while the Nifty fell by 61.65 points or 0.25%, reaching 24,291.50.
The decline was primarily driven by pressure on metal and real estate stocks, making Nifty Metal and Nifty Realty the top losers. Additionally, Nifty India Defense, Nifty PSU, Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty Commodities, and Nifty Oil and Gas also traded in the red. Conversely, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Media, and Nifty Consumption showed positive movements.
In contrast, mid-cap and small-cap stocks experienced gains. The Nifty Midcap 100 index rose by 303.70 points or 0.51%, reaching 60,201.90, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index increased by 38.40 points or 0.22%, settling at 17,604.
Among the gainers in the Sensex pack were Trent, SBI, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, Adani Ports, L&T, Axis Bank, NTPC, HUL, Bajaj Finserv, M&M, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, and Indigo. On the other hand, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, TCS, Titan, and Eternal were among the losers.
Asian markets were trading positively, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, and Jakarta in the green, while only Bangkok was in the red. The US stock market had closed significantly higher on Friday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) made a net investment of ₹683.20 crore in Indian equities on Friday. In contrast, Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) recorded a net selling of ₹4,721.48 crore in equities.
The tension between the US and Iran remains high. After a brief period of openness, the Strait of Hormuz has been closed again, escalating tensions between the two nations.
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