Stock Market Opening: Nifty, Sensex Open Flat; Will Defence Sector Stocks Fire Up The Market Today?

Stock Market Today: The Indian stock market opened on a cautious note on Monday, May 19, as they defied the global stock market sentiments. The defence sector emerged as the sole winner in Monday morning's session, whereas the IT sector remained under pressure.

Bank Nifty opened flat, but there was some bullishness seen in the railway sector and PSU stocks like IRFC, RVNL, etc. JSW Steel, ONGC were among the top gainers of the session.

Dalal Street investors will be keenly observing the Q4 results today of notable companies like HEG, Gujarat Gas, Bharat Electronics Limited, Everest Industries, Petronet LNG, Borosil, Pfizer, etc.

The Indian stock market opening today aligned with the Gift Nifty trajectory, which indicated a muted start for Nifty and Sensex today. The Indian stock market on Friday ended with minor weekly gains. BSE Sensex ended last week's trading session at 82,330, whereas Nifty 50 was above 25,000 points.

The stock market will also react on the q4 results announcement today including Power Grid, Zydus Wellness, Pfizer, etc. Other companies which will announce q4 results today are PI Industries Ltd, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, Vivo Bio Tech Ltd, Zydus Wellness Ltd, etc.

Stock Market Today: How Will Stock Market Perform During The Rest Of The Day?

"This week, markets are expected to extend gains, supported by progress in US-China trade talks and low domestic inflation. Institutional flows remain strong, with FIIs and DIIs investing around ₹33,000 crore month-to-date in May. India's retail inflation slowed to 3.16%, providing scope for further interest rate cuts to support economic growth," noted Sidhartha Khemka of Motilal Oswal.

"Continuous institutional buying in cash markets, FPIs' net short positions in the index markets, and positive surprises on Q4FY25 earnings season in select stocks make us believe that broad-based growth may give way to more sector and stock-specific performance in the coming periods," said Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities maintaining that the Indian stock market investors will remain cautious on Monday morning.

"Focus will also remain on the ongoing Q4 earnings season, with key results expected from Divis Labs, DLF, Hindalco, BEL, Amber Ent, Zen Tech, Power Grid, Max Health, and ONGC," Khemka added.

"The Nifty registered a rally of more than 4% last week, backed by strong broader markets. The Nifty Midcap100, Smallcap100, and Microcap250 indices outperformed the Nifty by soaring 7.21%, 9.17%, and 9.99%, respectively. The next resistance for the Nifty is seen in the band of 25200-25300, where 76.4% and 78.6% retracement levels are placed, respectively. Previous resistance of 24545, derived by 61.8% retracement, is expected to interchange its role as a support going forward for Nifty," noted Vakil.

Global Stock Market Today

US Stock market closed in green on Friday, but it is likely to make a weak start on Monday as S&P Futures were down 1.03%, Dow Futures was down by 300 points, Nasdaq Futures was trading 1.3% lower. Meanwhile, Asian stock markets were trading in red on Monday. SSE Composite, Nikkei 225, Hang Seng, etc were trading in red on Monday at 10 am (IST).