Indian equities reversed early gains on Monday, slipping into the red by around 11am as caution over possible new US sanctions on Iran and still‑elevated crude prices kept sentiment fragile.
Both the benchmark indices opened higher, extending Friday’s modest uptrend, with the Sensex initially adding more than 200 points and the Nifty about 55 points in early trade, supported by buying in large information technology and banking names. By around 11am, however, both gave up those gains.
The Sensex, which swung between an intraday high roughly 250 points above Friday’s close and a low about 70 points below it, was trading close to the bottom of that range.
The Nifty followed a similar pattern, moving from an early rise of around 60 points to sit roughly 25 points down on the day, signalling that the early bounce had quickly run out of steam.
All of this was a testament to the mixed market tone. IT stocks, which had dropped sharply last week, turned higher again, helped by overnight gains on Wall Street and expectations that a softer US interest‑rate path would support tech spending.
Tata Steel, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Sun Pharma, and Tech Mahindra were among the notable gainers on the Sensex, while Bharat Electronics, Power Grid, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, and ITC led the losers’ pack.
Earlier in the session, the IT index was up about 0.8 per cent, while mid‑caps and small‑caps outperformed the benchmarks.
But all of this did not stop the macro headwinds from raining on the parade. Global crude benchmarks were hovering near $93 a barrel, down modestly on the day, reigniting concerns about imported inflation and the current account deficit.
Investors and analysts have been closely watching for more details on possible tougher sanctions against Iran, with the US Treasury Secretary scheduled to outline the measures later on Monday.
Foreign institutional investors selling more than ₹540 crore of equities on Friday added to the cautious mood.
It seems traders are reluctant to chase the morning rally, particularly ahead of the US Federal Reserve chair’s speech at Jackson Hole later this week.
The intraday reversal also meant that global climate and oil prices were still outweighing the positive cues from US markets and domestic earnings.
