Opening Bell: Nifty slips below 17,100, Sensex tanks nearly 500 points; IT, metal shine in falling market

Following SGX Nifty's trend and tracking Asian peers, the domestic equity market opened in the red amid muted global cues on Thursday. Headline indices opened with more than 0.5% cut as rising crude prices and geopolitical skirmishes kept the market on the edge. SGX Nifty was seen trading lower by nearly 60 points in the early trade on the Singaporean exchange. 

The broader Nifty opened below 17,000 and the Sensex tanked nearly 500 points as the indices opened at 17,094.80 and 57,190.05 respectively. IT, metal stocks gained in the negative market, while banking, financial and auto stocks decined the most amid volatility.

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V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said that market now lacks direction and is moving up or down on a daily basis responding to news regarding crude price, FPI flows and speculation on what the Fed might do in the coming policy meets.  

"Nifty is likely to move in the 17000 - 17500 range in the short run. A breakout above this range can happen if there is positive news from the war front, which can bring crude prices sharply down. If crude prices remain elevated for a longer period, it will impact India's GDP growth and push inflation higher," he said.  

Vijaykumar further said that safety is now in IT and pharma, which are insulated from high crude prices and high inflation. "FMCG and cement segments will face margin pressure. High quality financials are in a sweet spot," he added. 

In the preopen, the Sensex started nearly 500 points lower as barring Nestle India, TCS, Wipro and Titan all other 26 stocks slipped in the red on the 30-share index.  

Earlier, Japanese Nikkei corrected more than 1%, Hang Seng Index at the Hong Kong exchange was trading lower by 0.4% and Chinese Shanghai Composite dragged nearly 0.5%. 

In related development, Ruchi Soya FPO is all set to open today, March 24. The follow-on public offering will conclude on March 28. One of the largest FMCG companies in the Indian edible oil sector, Patanjali group subsidiary has fixed a price band at Rs 615-650 per equity share for this FPO. 

Meanwhile, Russia plans to reopen its stock market for limited trading on Thursday, nearly one month after shares plunged and the exchange was shut down following the invasion of Ukraine. 

There will be heavy restrictions on trading intended to prevent the kind of massive selloff that took place on February 24 in anticipation of crushing financial and economic sanctions from Western nations, said news agency PTI.  

(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.)