Sensex Opens 82 Points Up; Nifty Holds Below 25,500, Bajaj Finance Gains 2%

Sensex Inches Up, Nifty Below 25,500; Bajaj Finance Leads as Markets Remain Rangebound.

Benchmark indices opened marginally higher on Friday, buoyed by gains in FMCG and financial stocks, even as markets remained rangebound amid a lack of fresh triggers. As of 9:22 AM, the BSE Sensex rose 46.97 points to 83,286.44, while the Nifty50 edged up 14.45 points to 25,419.75.

Market sentiment remained cautious, with analysts expecting Nifty to stay within the 25,200–25,800 range.

“There are no major triggers to break the current range. However, market resilience continues, backed by strong U.S. markets and consistent domestic inflows,” said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Top Gainers & Losers
Bajaj Finance led the gains, rising 2.04%, followed by Bajaj Finserv (+1.70%), Bharat Electronics (+1.11%), Hindustan Unilever (+0.66%), and HDFC Bank (+0.58%).

On the downside, Trent tumbled 7.50%, followed by Tata Steel (-1.12%), Tech Mahindra (-0.92%), Maruti Suzuki (-0.42%), and Asian Paints (-0.25%).

Sectoral Snapshot
Positive movers:

Nifty Realty (+0.46%)

Nifty FMCG (+0.25%)

Nifty Financial Services (+0.24%)

Nifty Media, Pharma, and Healthcare also edged higher.

Dragging sectors:

Nifty Metal (-0.30%)

Nifty IT (-0.17%)

Nifty Auto (-0.15%)

Nifty Private Bank (-0.13%)

The India VIX rose 0.94%, reflecting a mild uptick in market volatility.

Outlook: Stock-Specific Action Ahead of Q1 Results
Dr. Vijayakumar noted that the upside may be capped due to tepid earnings expectations for FY26.

“Outperformance will likely be stock-specific, not sector-wide. While the auto sector might post modest results, stocks like TVS, Eicher, and M&M could beat estimates. In financials, Bajaj Finance and Shriram Finance may outperform,” he added.

With Q1 earnings season around the corner, investors are expected to closely monitor results for early signs of earnings trajectory shifts.