Opening Bell: Nifty below 16,500, Sensex sheds around 100 points; bank, auto decline, IT gains

Amid negative global cues, the Indian stock market opened lower on Thursday, extending losses for the third consecutive day. The broader Nifty50 slipped below 16,500, while the 30-share Sensex dropped nearly 100 points 

Benchmarks Nifty 50 and Sensex declined nearly 0.2% each as they opened at 16,481.65 and 55,382.44 respectively.  

In the broader market, Nifty midcap traded in the green as the index rose marginally higher by .10%, while the small cap index traded flat with negative bias.  

On the sectoral front, bank, auto and FMCG stocks were seen under pressure, while IT, Metal and Realty stocks attracted some buying interest. 

In the pre-opening, the Sensex opened flat near its previous closing as 15 stocks advanced and equal number of shares declined on the 30-share index.  

Earlier, the cues from Asian and global markets were negative on Thursday. Indicating yet another weak start for the Indian market, SGX Nifty Futures declined over 90 points on the Singaporean exchange in the early morning trade on Thursday.  

Meanwhile, Japanese Nikkei 225, Chinese Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng Index at the Hong Kong Exchange traded deep in the red as they declined 0.3%, 0.4% and 1.4% respectively on Thursday.  

Besides, the US markets ended lower on Wednesday too. Dow Jones declined 177 points, Nasdaq ended lower by 97 points and S&P 500 dropped 31 points amid volatility.