Opening Bell: Market snaps 7-day gaining streak, Sensex down 180 points, Nifty below 17,900 – IT, Banks drag

The Indian markets started Thursday’s session on negative note amid weak global cues. BSE Sensex slipped over 180 points but managed to hold 60,000 while the Nifty50 started trade below 17,900 with IT and banks being the top laggards. 

At the market open, the BSE Sensex was down 181.17 points or 0.3 per cent to 60,079, while Nifty50 was down 45.6 points or 0.25 per cent to 17,898.7. The broader markets opened mixed as the Nifty midcap slipped marginally by 0.02 per cent and the Nifty small cap gained by nearly 0.2 per cent.  

As many as 24 advanced and 26 declined on Nifty50 at the market open. HDFC Life gained most to become a top Nifty gainer up over 1 per cent, followed by Eicher Motors and Power Grid each up nearly 1 per cent, while Hero MotoCorp and SBI gained over 0.5 per cent at the open.

On the contrary, pharma stocks such as Dr Reddy’s and Sun Pharma were among the top Nifty losers both down between 1-2 per cent, followed by ONGC, Infosys, and HDFC Bank down between 0.5-1 per cent at the market close.

Sectorally, the pharma index cracked over 1 per cent in the early morning trade, followed by IT, Bank and Financial Services on the NSE each down by around 0.4 per cent. While FMCG and Metal are in the green aiding the markets from further fall in the early morning trade.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the Indian capital market as they bought shares worth Rs 2,347.22 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

"The Fed minutes suggest continuation of the hawkish stance and this may slightly impact sentiments in the mother market, US. But this is unlikely to impact the bullish sentiments in India since the return of the FIIs have completely altered the market mood and the bulls are calling the shots now," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said, benchmark indices are expected to drift lower in early trades on Thursday, after the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting minutes that indicated Fed to stay hawkish on rate hike decision in its next meeting triggered a sharp fall in the US markets.

With PTI Inputs