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Informist, Tuesday, Jul. 21, 2026

By Gopika Balasubramanium

MUMBAI – Domestic equity indices are expected to open slightly lower despite positive cues from Asian markets, which rose in early trade as the sell-off in artificial-intelligence stocks lost steam. Analysts also expect traders to buy Indian stocks on every dip, similar to the movement seen Monday. Technical analysts expect the sentiment to remain bullish as long as the Nifty 50 holds 24000 points. The GIFT NIFTY index is currently about 100 points below the 50-stock index's Monday close; hence, analysts expect the market to open down.

At 0746 IST, the July contract of GIFT NIFTY was at 24143, up 28.50 points or 0.1%. Nifty 50 is expected to open gap-down Tuesday, and later the "gap" would be fully covered intraday, Ashish Sherigar, senior technical analyst at NVS Brokerage, said. He expects the 50-stock index to get support at 24050 points and 24000 points. He expects the index to face resistance between 24250 points and 24350 points.

Technical analysts see the 24000-24100-point range as a crucial support for the Nifty 50. As long as the 50-stock index holds this range, the index is unlikely to see a sharp fall. Monday, the Nifty 50 settled at 24238.50 points, down 95.80 points or 0.4%. The index fell to a low of 24135.85 points, breaking the crucial support level of 24200. However, traders bought the dip and this helped the index to rebound. The BSE Sensex ended Monday at 77708.52 points, down 442.93 points or 0.6%.   

Traders would continue to focus on June quarter earnings in the coming trading sessions, looking for sectors which could be less vulnerable to West Asia war-induced shocks, dealers said. The Apr-Jun results have not been as underwhelming as expected initially, and hence stock-specific jumps in prices are expected intraday, they said.   

Traders will also keep an eye on the evolving situation in West Asia, where Saudi Arabian oil exports are under threat after Yemen's Houthis threatened to block these exports through the Red Sea. However, the near-month futures contract of Brent crude oil, traded on the InterContinental Exchange, eased slightly from Monday and at 0746 IST was traded at $88.7 a barrel. Some analysts expect local indices to fall sharply if crude oil climbs back above $100 a barrel.

The near-term activity of foreign investors will also be monitored in the coming days as these had turned net buyers in July. There were expectations that once the war in West Asia subsides and the artificial-intelligence-led trade loses momentum, foreign investors would buy Indian stocks. However, with recent escalations between Iran and the US, investors would likely take a pause, analysts said. While foreign investors sold Indian stocks for six sessions in a row, domestic investors continued to buy. 

In the US, indices closed lower and traders now await earnings of Alphabet, Tesla, and Intel. In Asia, most indices were higher, with South Korean and Japanese indices leading the gains. Traders bought into stocks of chipmakers. However, Australia's S&P ASX 200 index fell and was down 0.3%. Japanese markets were shut Monday.  End

US$1 = INR 96.45

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Himanshi Gupta

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