Indian equity markets opened on a positive note on Wednesday, tracking gains in global peers. At 9:16 AM, the BSE Sensex was up 281.52 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 80,517.11, while the NSE Nifty50 advanced 96.65 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 24,584.05. Early trade saw buying interest across banking, IT, and auto stocks, lifting market sentiment after Tuesday’s sharp losses.

Market breadth was positive, with 1,554 stocks advancing, 689 declining, and 148 remaining unchanged. Among the Nifty’s top performers were Apollo Hospitals, Hindalco, ONGC, Tata Motors, and NTPC, while Tech Mahindra and Axis Bank were the notable laggards.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments, noted, "The significant recent underperformance of the Indian market deserves a close look. Nifty has been setting new lows consecutively for the last six weeks while most other markets -developed and emerging- are doing well. This underperformance is despite the massive DII buying aided by robust inflows into mutual funds. In August, so far, FIIs have sold equity for Rs 18620 crores through the exchanges. This FII selling has been completely eclipsed by the massive DII buying of Rs 46272 crores. Yet Nifty has drifted down from 24768 o 24487."

"The tepid earnings growth, elevated valuations and modest projection of 8 to 10 per cent earnings growth for FY26 have emboldened the bears to increase the short positions. A sudden reversal of sentiments can lead to short covering and sharp recovery in the market. The Trump-Putin talks may provide a positive trigger but there is no certainty about it. This is the right time for asset allocation. Investors with a long-term investment horizon of 3 years and above can accumulate fairly valued largecaps in banking, telecom, capital goods, aviation and select midcap IT. The risk-reward in these segments is favourable for investment."

Previous Trading Session

Indian equities reversed all the gains from the previous session on Tuesday, closing sharply lower. The BSE Sensex tumbled over 350 points to end the day at 80,236, while the NSE Nifty50 slipped nearly 100 points to finish below the 24,500 mark.

Among the Sensex constituents, Maruti, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, and Sun Pharma managed to end in positive territory. In contrast, Bajaj Finance, Trent, Hindustan Unilever, Eternal, and HDFC Bank dragged the indices down, closing deep in the red.