Opening Bell: Nifty slips below 16,700, Sensex declines around 150 points; banking, financial stocks gain

Tracking cues from Asian markets, the domestic equity benchmarks opened lower on Monday. The barometer indices dropped by around 0.30% each. The broader Nifty50 slipped below 16,700, while the Sensex dropped more than 150 points to start near 55,900. The two indices opened at 16,662.55 and 55,877.50 respectively 

In the broader market, Nifty Midcap and Smallcap were seen trading in line with the benchmarks as they slipped around 0.15% each in the opening trade on Monday. The India Volatility index (VIX) started above 17-mark.  

On the sectoral front, buying was seen in banks, financial services, consumer durables, healthcare stocks, while others witnessed profit booking in the opening trade.  

Minutes before market opening, the Sensex dropped nearly 200 points or 0.35% to trade around 55,900 as 17 stocks advanced and 13 declined in the preopen on the 30-share index.  

"Market action this week will be in response to the results declared after the market closure last Friday and in anticipation of the major results expected this week," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. 

RIL's results, though impressive on the telecom and retail front, fell slightly below expectations in the refining space, he said.  

"ICICI Bank's results are the best in the banking segment. The steller Q1 numbers, increasing credit growth and improving asset quality augur well for the ICICI Bank stock. Infosys's numbers reflect the industry's concerns of pressure on margins but Infy's higher revenue growth guidance of 14-16 percent indicate the management's confidence regarding the business prospects," said the expert on recent result announcements.  
 
As per Vijayakumar, the Fed's rate announcement on 27th July is not likely to impact the market much since a 75 bp rate hike is already known and discounted by the market.  

"The market will be keenly watching the Fed commentary for near-term triggers. 
FII selling, which has been a major drag on the market since October 2021, is unlikely to impact the market in the near-term since FIIs have turned buyers recently. As expected, financials have benefited from the recent change in FII investment strategy," the expert added.