Stock market opening: Nifty, Sensex open the week with muted gains, NTPC, ONGC take lead

Both indices, Sensex and Nifty opened the day in greens. As of 9:26 am, Nifty was up by 0.22% and was trading at 24,595.85 points, while BSE Sensex was trading at slightly over the 80,000 mark, at 80,542.08 points. Bankex was up by around 114 points and is trading at 57,748.40 points.

ONGC, BPCL, NTPC, Shri Ram Finance, and Hindalco gained early lead during trade today and were among the top gainers. On the other hand, Mahindra and Mahindra, Nestle India, TCS, Infosys, and Tech Mahindra were trading in red during early trade today.

Aditya Gaggar, director of Progressive Shares noted that finally, the Index has given the much-awaited range breakout (23,970-24,420) and opened gates for 24,870; while on the flip side, the support level is shifted higher to 24,420. BankNifty is still in the range of 49,730-50,730. We remain bullish on HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra.

"Another sector which we are bullish on, with a stock-specific approach is FMCG ( Balrampur Chini, ITC, Jubilant Foodworks). After a spectacular rally, the pharma segment has formed a small bearish candle on the weekly chart. The round of correction, if any, is likely to be short-lived considering a strong bullish momentum. In the realty segment, a hidden bullish divergence was observed, defining trend continuation (DLF, Prestige Estate). Few stocks from the mid and smallcap segments appear strong on technical front namely Birla Corporation, Kitex Garments, and Avadh Sugar/PCBL/Sterling Tools", continued Gaggar.

All broad market indices opened the day in green, with India VIX inching up by over 2%. Small caps and micro cap indices achieved an early lead, and were trading with gains over 1% each during trade today. As for sectoral indices, auto and IT registered marginal dips. Media, PSU banks and Oil and Gas registered gains of over 1% each.