Opening Bell: Nifty gives up 18,100, Sensex down over 200 points; Banking, IT shares decline

The Indian markets started Wednesday on weak note amid weak global cues and selling pressure from Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and domestic institutional investors (DIIs). The broader Nifty slipped below 18,100 while Sensex lost over 200 points after the indices opened at 18,129.20 and 60,845.59 respectively.  

IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Shree Cement, Adani Ports, Wipro, ICICI Bank, Infosys and Ultratech Cement were among top losers. ONGC, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr Reddy's, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance and JSW Steel were gainers in otherwise negative market.   

In the pre-open, the Sensex opened with gain of nearly 100 points to 60,845.59 as 20 shares advanced and 10 declined on the 30-share index 

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Ahead of the opening, Prashant Tapse, Vice President (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said Dalal Street looks set for another rough session on fears that the US Federal Reserve will have to accelerate further its tightening pace. Commanding attention from here-on would be the two-day FOMC meeting beginning January 25th, he said.  

"Also fueling pessimism are yesterday’s institutional activity where both, FIIs and DIIs camp sold shares in Indian stock markets. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1,254.95 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net offloaded shares worth Rs 220.20 crores. The negative takeaway is that both the institutions sold shares for 2nd consecutive day. The street will be also bit apprehensive as scorching inflation is seen hurting retail sales. The street also fears that Omicron variant has still not subsided," said Prashant Tapse 

He said IT stocks earnings were generally strong so far but IT index has failed to rally—fireworks missing. The Fed's hawkish talk is seen denting hopes of tech sector re-bound, he added.  

Earlier, SGX Nifty hinted at negative opening for the Indian markets as the Futures Index on Singaporean Exchange was trading lower by 50 points or 0.28% to 18,088.50.  

Meanwhile, Asian markets were largely trading in negative on Wednesday morning. Japanese Nikkei 225 was down 1.8%, Shanghai Composite was trading flat with negative bias after slipping by 0.7%, while Hang Seng Index at the Hong Kong Exchange traded flat with positive bias as the index gained 0.10 per cent around 7.45 am on Wednesday. 

Earlier on Tuesday, the US market indices tanked when it opened after long weekend as the Wall Street indices remained closed on Monday.  Dow Jones slipped 1.51%, Nasdaq Composite tanked 2.60%, S&P 500 ended 1.84% lower and Russell 2000 slumped 3.06% on Tuesday.