Stock Market dips amid pre-budget volatility and monthly expiry

The Indian stock market opened on a cautious note today, as monthly expiry and pre-budget volatility kept investors on the sidelines. The Sensex opened at 76,489.27 with a loss of 43.69 points, while the Nifty opened marginally down by 5.30 points at 23,157.80. Among the Nifty 50 companies, 35 stocks rose, 15 declined, and one remained unchanged.

Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco, NTPC and Coal India were the biggest gainers in early trade, while Tata Motors, Wipro, Infosys, ICICI Bank and HCL Technologies were among the biggest losers. Despite February 1 being a Saturday, both BSE and NSE will remain open for special live trading sessions in view of the Union Budget 2025-26. The exchange confirmed this in a circular, saying that due to the presentation of the Union Budget, the exchange will conduct a live trading session on February 1, 2025.

Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities, said, "Nifty rose for the second consecutive day yesterday and closed above the key gap-down level of 23050, which means that the near-term bulls have become active. Nevertheless, overhead supply still exists, the next round of resistance was seen in the 23290 - 23340 zone. He added that breaking it with support at the 23061 holding means that a major recovery could begin. The Union Budget is due in two days, so some investors can use any surge today to book profits or buy downside protection.

Banking and market expert Ajay Bagga highlighted that the market is expected to continue to fluctuate given the high levels of the India VIX. He said that Indian markets will see volatility, as India VIX is at a higher level. Today will see a special market session with monthly expiry for all major indices and the Union Budget on February 1, hence placing short positions in this eventful weekend in view of both the Trump tariffs and the Indian budget.