Opening Bell: Nifty, Sensex open flat as IT shares lead the drag

Amid weak global cues, domestic equity markets on Wednesday started trading on a flat note with positive note, making it fourth positive opening for the Indian markets. Headline indices Nifty and the Sensex opened at 17,820.10 and 59,921.98 respectively on Wednesday.  

Bajaj Finanace, Dr Reddy's, Mahindra and Mahindra, HDFC, HDFC LIfe, Axis Bank Maruti, Bajaj FinServ and UltraTech cement were among top gainers.  
IT shares led the decline as HCL Tech, Infosys and TCS, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank and reliance slipped the most on Tuesday 

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In the pre-open at around 9.05 am, the Sensex opened flat with marginal gains of 0.03% to 59,874.00 as 20 shares advanced and 10 declined on the 30-share index.  

Earlier, SGX Nifty at the Singaporean exchange hinted at negative opening for the Indian markets as SGX Nifty Futures slipped 63 points or 0.35% to 7,812.00 around 9 am on Wednesday.  

Earlier, Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities, said Benchmark Indices are expected to open on a marginally lower note as suggested by trends on SGX Nifty.  

The American Market ended negative, while the European market closed positive on the previous trading day, he said.   

"Asian markets are trading mixed as investors took note of data that showed Chinese factory activity growth accelerated in December. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) in its latest data has shown that the unemployment rate in the country touched a four-month high of 7.91 percent in December 2021. The unemployment rate had stood at 7 percent in November, the highest since August which was at 8.3 percent," said the market expert.  

He said, however, markets soon gained traction, taking support from government data showing that India’s exports surged 37 percent on an annual basis to $37.29 billion in December 2021.  

Some optimism also came with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will be a short-term disruption on businesses, adding that supply chains and industrial activities will continue at full speed, he said.  
  
"Momentum on the upside picked up as it sustained above levels of 17,500. Forming a sizable bullish candle, the Nifty ended above 17800. On technical front, Nifty's immediate support and resistance can be 17,500 and 18,000 respectively. While for Bank Nifty, 36300 and 37300 may act as immediate support and resistance," he added.  

Earlier, Asian markets were trading flat to negative on Wednesday. Hang Seng Index was trading lower by 266 points to 33, 021, Japanese Nikkei 225 traded flat as the index traded with 5 points gain and Shanghai Composite was down 0.69% at around 7.50 am.  

The US markets too closed largely in the red on Tuesday. Dow Jones closed with 215 points gain, however other indices ended in red as Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.33%, S&P 500 declined 0.06% and Russell 2000 ended with loss of 0.16% on Tuesday.