Opening Bell: Nifty below 15,800, Sensex drops over 250 points; consumer durables, financial stocks worst hit

Following its Asian peers, the Indian market put a halt to a three-day winning streak as benchmark indices opened lower on Tuesday.  

The broader Nifty50 and Sensex declined nearly half per cent as the former opened below 15,800 and the latter dropped around 250points to start near 52,800.  

Following benchmarks, Nifty midcap and small cap declined by 0.5% and 0.7% respectively.  

Among the sectoral indices, except Oil & Gas, all Nifty sectoral indices slipped in the red with consumer durables and financial stocks taking maximum heat.

"Markets are trying to gauge the extent of the growth slowdown in the US, which is already underway. One view is that since the Fed policy will be data dependent, the Fed might go slow on rate hikes and QT if incoming data allows that. The decline in metal prices is a positive development from this perspective. But Brent crude again rising above $ 116 is a negative," said  V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

There are many headwinds for the recent rally to sustain, he said.  "FIIs will continue to sell at rallies. Therefore, investors need not rush in to buy the dips, particularly in mid-and small-caps. Systematic calibrated buying  in high-quality large-caps would be a better strategy now," added the expert. 

In the pre-open, the Sensex declined more than 300 points as 11 stocks advanced and 19 sat in the green on the 30-share index.  

Earlier, the cues from Asian markets on Tuesday morning were negative.  

Indicating a weak start for the Indian market, SGX Nifty Futures was trading lower by more than 60 points on the Singaporean exchange in early trade on Tuesday.  

Besides, Japanese Nikkei 225 was trading flat with negative bias, Hang Seng Index at the Hong Kong Exchange dropped by 0.8% and Chinese Shanghai Composite declined 0.4% in the morning trade on Tuesday.  

On Monday, the US markets have also closed in the red on Monday, With Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 declining between 0.2-0.7%.