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Stock Market Today: The Sensex opened higher at 85,690.10 but slipped into negative territory in early trade. At 9:17 am, the 30-share index was trading at 85,495.83, down 71.65 points, or 0.08 per cent, compared with its previous close of 85,567.48.

The Nifty 50 also gave up early gains after a flat start. The index opened at 26,205.20 but was trading 25.80 points lower at 26,146.60, down 0.10 per cent, from its previous close of 26,172.40.

Heavyweight stocks showed mixed trends in early trade on Tuesday. Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Titan, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, Power Grid, Trent and Kotak Mahindra Bank emerged as the top gainers on the benchmarks. On the other hand, Infosys, TCS, HCLTech, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, Eternal and Bharti Airtel weighed on the indices.

The broader market traded mixed. The Nifty Midcap index slipped 0.18 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap index was marginally higher by 0.02 per cent.

Sectoral performance on the NSE remained uneven. Nifty IT was the top laggard, falling 1.35 per cent amid selling pressure in large-cap tech stocks. Nifty Realty declined 0.25 per cent, while Nifty Consumer Durables was down 0.23 per cent. In contrast, Nifty Metal gained 0.51 per cent, supported by strength in steel stocks. Nifty PSU Bank rose 0.41 per cent, while Nifty Financial Services added 0.25 per cent. Nifty Pharma was marginally higher by 0.04 per cent.

Institutional activity showed a sharp divergence. Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the cash market on Monday, offloading shares worth Rs 457.3 crore. However, strong domestic institutional investor buying worth Rs 4,058.2 crore helped limit downside pressure in the market.

Global cues stayed supportive but cautious. Historically, the S&P 500 has delivered an average return of about 4 per cent between October 28 and New Year’s Eve, raising hopes of a year-end rally.

Asian markets tracked positive US cues. Japan’s Nikkei traded marginally higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.42 per cent. Taiwan’s weighted index gained 0.54 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.43 per cent, and Singapore’s Straits Times index climbed 0.36 per cent.

Despite supportive global signals, Indian equities continue to face pressure, with investors closely watching whether the remaining trading sessions of the year can deliver a delayed Santa rally.