Opening Bell: Sensex, Nifty open flat; banking shares in focus, IT stocks decline

The Indian markets started off Wednesday on a flat note amid mixed global cues. Headline indices Nifty50 and S&P BSE Sensex opened at 17,323.65 and 58,122.00, respectively.

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Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, Axis Bank, Power Grid, HDFC Bank and NTPC were top gainers, while ONGC, Divis Labs, Dr Reddy's, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Asian Paint, TCS, Tech Mahindra and Infosys declined the most.

The Bank Nifty started positively at 36,929.50, while the Nifty midcap opened flat with positive bias.

As suggested by the SGX Nifty, the Sensex traded flat in the pre-open as 16 shares advanced, 13 declined and one remained unchanged on the 30-share index. The SGX Nifty Futures was trading lower by 15.50 points to 17,317.50 around 9.05 am.

On Wednesday morning, Asian markets were seen trading mixed. Japanese Nikkei 225 was up 0.13%, Hang Seng Index at the Hong Kong Exchange was also trading marginally higher by 0.09%, while Shanghai Composite Index started 0.18% lower in the early trade on Wednesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, major Wall Street indices closed weak for the second consecutive session on Tuesday. Dow Jones ended 107 points or 0.30% lower, Nasdaq Composite closed 176 points or 1.14% down and S&P 500 slipped by 0.75% or 35 points.