New Delhi [India], January 27 (ANI): The domestic equity benchmarks opened nearly flat but in green on Tuesday as investors remained cautious ahead of the much-anticipated India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which is expected to be signed today.

Market participants are closely monitoring developments around the deal, even as global uncertainty continues due to frequent tariff-related threats by US President Donald Trump.

The Nifty 50 index opened at 25,063.35, gaining 14.70 points or 0.06 per cent, while the BSE Sensex began the session at 81,662.37, up by 124.67 points or 0.15 per cent.

Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market Expert, told ANI that market sentiment is showing some excitement around the India-EU trade agreement. 'The 'Mother of all Deals', the EU-India FTA, is imminent and there is some market exuberance around it. It will help Indian textiles, gems and jewellery, leather, intermediate machinery, and the auto ancillary sector,' he said.

He added, 'The US reaction has been one of attacking India and the EU on Russian oil purchases. The threat to impose 100 per cent tariffs on Canada and 25 per cent on Korea is Trump playing the 2025 Weaponisation Playbook when the world has moved on to 2026. There is some impact on Korean automakers, but the rest of Asia is resilient'.

Global uncertainty has been rising sharply, driven by daily tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. This has made equity investors cautious and pushed investors and central banks towards safe-haven assets such as gold and silver. As a result, precious metal prices have surged.

The gold rally continued, with commodities touching new highs amid global uncertainty and continued tariff threats. The price of 10 grams of gold surged to Rs 1,62,110, while silver prices climbed sharply to Rs 3,60,100 per kilogram.

In the broader market indices on the NSE, the Nifty 200 was up by 0.04 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 gained 0.23 per cent. However, midcap and smallcap indices remained under pressure in early trade.

Among sectoral indices on the NSE, Nifty Auto declined by more than 1.3 per cent, Nifty Media fell by 1.6 per cent, and Nifty Realty was down by 0.66 per cent. On the positive side, Nifty Metal rose by 1.48 per cent, Nifty PSU Bank gained 0.68 per cent, and Nifty Pharma was also trading in the green.

Sunil Gurjar, SEBI-registered analyst and Founder of Alphamojo Financial Services, said the Nifty 50 has underperformed after hitting an all-time high. 'The index is falling sharply due to global uncertainty, trade tariff wars, geopolitical tensions, and a weakening Rupee,' he told ANI.

He added that the Nifty breached a major support level at 25,250 and has moved below all short- and long-term EMAs. 'Currently, 24,600 acts as critical support; a breakdown below this level would confirm a strong downtrend,' he said.

In other Asian markets, equities were largely positive. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose by 0.49 per cent, Singapore's Straits Times index was up by 0.79 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained more than 1 per cent, South Korea's KOSPI surged by 1.94 per cent, and Taiwan's weighted index advanced by 1.10 per cent. (ANI)