Opening Bell: Nifty, Sensex decline half percent in opening trade on weak global cues; auto stocks decline most

Following Asian markets and taking cues from SGX Nifty, the Indian market opened in the red after inflation in the US rose to nearly8%, fastest in four decades. SGX Nifty Futures declined 0.41% or 68 points to 16,502 on the Singaporean exchange around 9 am, hinting at weak opening for the domestic equity market.  

Benchmarks Nifty and the Sensex opened nearly half per cent lower on Friday as the former opened at 16,528.80, while the latter opened at 55,218.78. 

"India's equity benchmark is expected to follow the global market's close and SGX Nifty's inclinations and open lower. The global stock market tumbled yesterday as key peace talks between Russia and Ukraine came to a halt, exacerbated by a worsening growth outlook. The US stock market also fell, with technology stocks leading the way, after statistics revealed that consumer prices rose in February, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates later this month, Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities had said in his pre-open market commentary on Friday. 

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Meanwhile, in the pre-open, the Sensex declined by nearly 250 points to trade near 55,200 as 9 shares advanced and 21 declined on the 30-share index.  

Auto, IT, FMCG sectors were seen under pressure, while metal and PSU Bank gained. Nifty midcap and smallcap indices opened in the green even as Nifty bank declined in the oepning trade.  

Tata Motors, Maruti, Tata Consumers, Nestle India, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and HDFC limited were among top losers.  

Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Hindalco, Coal India, BPCL, Sun Pharma, Ultratech Cement, Bajaj Finance and Axis Bank gained the most on Friday.

"An important takeaway from the sustained FII selling is that it is not impacting the market much. For instance FPIs sold IT equity worth Rs 10984 cr in February. But this month IT index has outperformed. This trend is likely in financials too where FPIs have been major sellers since last October," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. 

Investors can use the present weakness in markets to accumulate high quality financials, he added. 

Earlier, following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Goldman Sachs Group Inc declared that it will cease operations in Russia, becoming the first major Wall Street bank to do so. After reaching multi-year and record highs, commodity prices, particularly oil and industrial metals, have begun to fall, which may assist to calm market sentiment in the coming days, said Nigam.  

"As a result of the BJP's triumph, the market gained confidence. However, with the ECB and US Federal Reserve meetings coming up in the coming days, caution is advised. On the technical front, immediate support and resistance in the Nifty are 16,200 and 16,800. For the Bank Nifty, immediate support and resistance are at 33,500 and 35,500," Nigam said.  

(Disclaimer: The views/suggestions/advice expressed here in this article are solely by investment experts. Zee Business suggests its readers to consult with their investment advisers before making any financial decision.)