Markets opened sharply higher on Monday morning, riding a wave of easing geopolitical tensions and a steep fall in crude oil prices, even as domestic technical indicators continued to signal caution.The BSE Sensex, which closed Friday at 76,059.77, opened at 76,608.98 and was trading at 76,589.59, up 529.82 points or 0.70 per cent, as of 9.17 AM. The NSE Nifty50, which ended its previous session at 23,767.45, opened at 23,928.40 and was quoting at 23,920.90, a gain of 153.45 points or 0.65 per cent.The rally came after Brent crude retreated sharply to around $88 per barrel from above $100 last week, following signals that the Trump administration had paused further military action against Iran to allow diplomatic channels to operate. WTI crude fell more than 6 per cent from recent highs near $93 to around $84. "The sharp dip in Brent crude price from $102 four days ago to around $93 this morning is a sentiment positive for the market," said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited. "If the deescalation of the West Asia conflict holds and crude price drifts lower, that can sustain a mild rally in the market."Among the Nifty50 constituents, aviation and consumption stocks led the gainers. InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) was the top gainer, opening at ₹5,111.00 and trading at ₹5,129.50, up 2.90 per cent, on volumes of 72,444 shares worth ₹3,714.97 lakhs. Tata Consumer Products rose 2.85 per cent, opening at ₹1,115.10 and last trading at ₹1,119.00, with volumes of 1,87,173 shares valued at ₹2,093.16 lakhs. Lower crude directly benefits aviation margins, making IndiGo's move among the sharpest on the index.Eternal Ltd gained 2.34 per cent, trading at ₹286.55 against a previous close of ₹280.00, on heavy volumes of 16,77,458 shares worth ₹4,782.77 lakhs. Infosys climbed 2.27 per cent, trading at ₹1,064.50 against a previous close of ₹1,040.90, on volumes of 9,17,763 shares valued at ₹9,745.27 lakhs, reflecting buying interest in the IT sector following positive global cues from Wall Street's technology segment. Bajaj Finance rose 1.95 per cent, trading at ₹1,032.60 against a previous close of ₹1,012.80, on volumes of 3,83,660 shares worth ₹3,959.87 lakhs.On the losing side, only three Nifty50 stocks were in the red. ONGC slipped 1.05 per cent, trading at ₹246.14 against a previous close of ₹248.76, on volumes of 4,82,345 shares worth ₹1,191.87 lakhs — a counterintuitive move given that lower crude typically pressures upstream energy producers' earnings. Shriram Finance declined 0.12 per cent, trading at ₹1,003.90 against a previous close of ₹1,005.10, on volumes of 4,82,066 shares worth ₹4,884.97 lakhs. SBI Life Insurance fell a marginal 0.07 per cent, trading at ₹1,857.30 against a previous close of ₹1,858.60, on modest volumes of 17,038 shares worth ₹317.34 lakhs.The broader context remained one of fragile recovery. The Nifty50 had logged five consecutive losing sessions last week, its sharpest weekly drop in months, falling 2.33 per cent to close at 23,767.45. The Sensex shed 2,091 points over the same period. Private Banks and Realty were the worst-performing sectors of the previous week, each declining more than 4.5 per cent, while FMCG was the sole major outperformer, gaining nearly 1 per cent."FII flows have been very inconsistent this month, alternating between buying and selling," said Vijayakumar. "The correction in chip stocks and concerns surrounding the AI trade have the potential to revive enthusiasm of FPIs in Indian stocks."Foreign Institutional Investors sold approximately ₹7,200 crore worth of equities through the previous week, while Domestic Institutional Investors bought roughly ₹8,600 crore. On Friday alone, DIIs purchased ₹5,453 crore in net terms, while FIIs were net sellers of ₹3,892 crore in the cash market. The rupee touched a near two-month low of ₹96.67 per US dollar before settling around ₹96.50.Technically, the Nifty remains below its key moving averages, trading in what analysts describe as a sideways-to-bullish bias for the session. "For positional traders, the 50-day SMA placed near 23,850 on the Nifty and 76,200 on the Sensex will act as the immediate resistance zone," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities. "As long as the indices trade below these levels, the overall sentiment is likely to remain cautious."Sachin Gupta, VP of Technical Research at Choice Broking, placed immediate support for the Nifty at 23,500–23,550, with resistance at 23,950–24,000. "Traders should adopt a buy-on-dips approach with a stock-specific focus while closely monitoring 23,700 on the downside and 24,100 on the upside for the next directional move," he said.Markets this week will track the US Federal Open Market Committee decision, second-quarter GDP data, and June PCE inflation figures, alongside crude oil movements and ongoing FII and DII flow dynamics in India. The Indian government has stated it sees no need to revise the Budget, citing adequate buffers against monsoon and oil-price risks."The price of crude and the progress of the monsoon will be the two factors that will influence this trend," Vijayakumar added.Published on July 27, 2026