Markets opened cautiously on Tuesday, July 28, with the Nifty 50 opening at 23,971.25 against a previous close of 23,995.95, trading at 24,033.50, up 37.55 points or 0.16 per cent, as of 9.20 AM. The Sensex opened at 76,831.75 against a previous close of 76,835.78, and was trading at 76,956.53, up 120.75 points or 0.16 per cent, at the same time.The cautious start came despite Monday's strong recovery, where the Nifty had gained 228 points, snapping a five-session losing streak to close just below the 24,000 mark. The index had rallied over 400 points from Friday's low of 23,606.The primary drag on markets was because of a global sell-off in semiconductor stocks, triggered by the blockbuster debut of China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) on the Shanghai Star Market, where shares surged roughly 500 per cent, valuing the DRAM chipmaker at $540 billion. The debut stoked fears that Chinese memory chips could reach customers like Apple sooner than expected.Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities, noted that on Wall Street, "Nvidia fell 5 per cent, SanDisk plunged 11 per cent, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 4.2 per cent." South Korea's KOSPI plunged over 7 per cent, with SK Hynix falling more than 10 per cent and Samsung Electronics dropping over 8 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell more than 3 per cent.On the domestic front, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued net selling of ₹1,688 crore on Monday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) remained net buyers at ₹2,329 crore, helping cushion the broader market.In a sharp divergence from global chip weakness, Indian IT majors were among the top gainers on the Nifty 50. TCS led the pack, trading at ₹2,365.20, up 3.03 per cent, on volumes of 9,40,218 shares worth ₹22,095.50 lakh. Infosys rose 2.64 per cent to ₹1,107.70, while Tech Mahindra gained 2.64 per cent to ₹1,616.60. HCL Technologies advanced 1.86 per cent to ₹1,320.00, and pharma major Cipla gained 1.67 per cent to ₹1,432.90.On the losing side, defence electronics firm BEL was the top loser, down 2.47 per cent to ₹397.10 on volumes of 38,31,286 shares. Coal India fell 2.04 per cent to ₹418.80. NTPC declined 0.87 per cent to ₹347.75, Power Grid slipped 0.83 per cent to ₹286.45, and Tata Motors fell 0.81 per cent to ₹325.00.Analysts broadly agree that 23,800 is the critical support to watch. Gaurav Udani, Founder of ThinCredBlu Securities, said... "23,800–23,900 remains the immediate support range, while 24,100–24,200 will act as the key resistance zone... a sustained move above resistance could improve sentiment and trigger fresh buying, while a break below support may invite renewed selling pressure."Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, added... "the pullback rally is likely to continue as long as the Nifty sustains above 23,800," with the 20-day SMA around 24,100–24,150 as the upside target. He advised traders to "use the ongoing pullback to reduce weak long positions in the 24,100–24,200 zone."Sachin Gupta of Choice Broking noted that India VIX declined sharply by 9.76 per cent to 12.66 on Monday, "highlighting easing volatility and improving investor confidence," with the index expected to trade in a 23,800–24,150 range.Crude oil prices fell to $80.99 a barrel after the US and Iran paused military strikes, providing relief on India's import bill and inflation outlook. The Indian rupee appreciated sharply by 65 paise to close at 95.91 on Monday, emerging as Asia's top performer.Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, pointed to several positives... "the sharp correction in Brent crude to $87 is a strong fundamental and sentiment positive for the market... credit growth in the economy is impressive running at around 18 per cent and there is good volume growth in sectors like automobiles."Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, cautioned however that... "the improvement in geopolitical sentiment has been overshadowed by a sharp sell-off across Asian equity markets, led by technology stocks," keeping domestic sentiment subdued despite supportive macro factors.Bank Nifty faces immediate resistance at 57,300–57,400, aligned with its 20-day EMA, with support at 57,000–56,800, coinciding with the 50-day EMA.Published on July 28, 2026