Indian stock markets open flat amid the anticipations of profit booking

Mumbai: The Indian stock markets opened flat on Tuesday amid the anticipations of profit-booking as the benchmark indices on Monday remained close to the lifetime highs.

On Tuesday, the NSE Nifty 50 began 0.09 per cent higher at 25,032.50, and the BSE Sensex opened 0.08 per cent higher at 81,759.70.

Among the sectoral stocks, buying was seen in the power, pharma, metal, IT, and media sectors. A selling trend is seen in telecom, auto and banking in the early hours of the trade on Tuesday.

The top gainers on NSE are HCL Technologies, Apollo Hospitals, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Larsen & Toubro, and Cipla.

The stocks of BPCL, Shriram Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, JSW Steel, and HDFC Life Insurance remained the top laggards during the initial trading hour.

"There are both headwinds and tailwinds for the market now. Headwinds are coming from the escalation of the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine. Brent crude has shot up above USD 81. The strongest tailwind comes from the expected rate cuts by the Fed which will spill over to other central banks including the RBI. The Indian economy now needs monetary stimulus through rate cuts and this is likely in the next policy meeting," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

On Monday, domestic markets closed significantly higher, with the Sensex gaining 611.90 points, or 0.75 per cent, to finish at 81,698.11, and the Nifty 50 rising 187.45 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 25,010.60.

The Nifty 50 formed a long bullish candlestick on the daily chart, indicating a potential breakout above previous resistance levels.

Market later this week will be reading the first quarter GDP data which is scheduled on Friday. The Reserve Bank of India, in its latest monetary policy meeting, projected GDP growth for 2024-25 at 7.2 per cent, with growth for Q1 expected at 7.1 per cent, Q2 at 7.2 per cent, Q3 at 7.3 per cent, and Q4 at 7.2 per cent.

India's GDP grew by an impressive 8.2 per cent during the financial year 2023-24, continuing to be the fastest-growing major economy.