Nifty, Sensex open flat despite DIIs buying more than FIIs selling in last six sessions

Mumbai: Selling pressure continued in Indian stock markets on Tuesday, following similar trends in Asian markets.

Nifty and Sensex showed mixed openings, with the Nifty 50 index recording a marginal gain of 36 points or 0.15 per cent, opening at 24,832.20 points, while the Sensex index opened at 80,826.56 points, registering a decline of 223.44 points or 0.28 per cent.

Experts noted that geopolitical pressure and the continued shift of foreign investment from India to China have added to the selling pressure on Indian equities.

"Market has turned weak responding to negative cues from escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, massive FPI selling and concerns surrounding the election results due today. The most important trigger which pulled the Nifty 5.6 per cent down from the peak has been the sustained big FPI selling during the last six trading days" said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

In the sectoral indices, Nifty Private Bank led the gains with a surge of 0.55 per cent at the opening session, and Nifty Bank also rose by 0.5 per cent, while Nifty FMCG, Nifty Media, and Nifty Metal faced selling pressure.

Among the Nifty 50 stocks, 20 opened in advance, 26 declined, and 4 remained unchanged.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have sold equities worth Rs 50,011 crores during the last six trading sessions, which has been more than offset by Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) buying Rs 53,203 crores. Despite this, the market has corrected by 5.6 per cent due to weak sentiments.

Experts also noted that there are enough indicators to suggest that FPIs have been following a 'Sell India, Buy China' strategy. Elevated valuations in India and cheaper valuations for Chinese stocks have triggered this shift in FPI strategy.

"The Nifty index on Monday closed at the crucial support level of 24,800, with momentum indicators in the oversold territory, which may trigger a temporary bounce. However, a weekly close below 24,800 could lead to further declines, potentially down to 24,000" said Varun Aggarwal, MD, Profit Idea.

Other Asian markets also faced high selling pressure on Tuesday, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down by more than 7.5 per cent at the time of this report. Japan's Nikkei index was down by 1.21 per cent, while Taiwan's weighted index dropped by 0.76 per cent.