Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended lower on Tuesday amid rising crude oil prices and escalating geopolitical tensions in Middle East as the U.S. strikes Iranian fast boats after Iran attacks on UAE oil facility. Index began the session with cut of over quarter percent, following negative cues from other Asian markets. Soon, index extended its losses as traders opted to book profit after previous session’s gain and avoided risky bids ahead of weekly Nifty expiry. Traders were cautious, as think tank GTRI said that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), a 14-member grouping including India, the US and Australia, is losing relevance under US President Donald Trump's aggressive trade strategy. Meanwhile, rupee depreciation to all-time-low of 95.44 against U.S. Dollar, also impacted trading sentiments. However, in second half of the session, index staged recovery but continued its trade below neutral line in red till the end of the session.
Traders were seen piling up positions in FMCG, Auto and Pharma stocks, while selling was witnessed in Realty, Consumer Durables and Private Bank. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Computer Age Management Services, Aditya Birla Capital and Aurobindo Pharma. On the other hand, the top losers were Voltas, Godrej Properties and Mphasis. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 24900 - 25100 calls and 23900 - 24100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
