Sensex down 400 points, Nifty below 25,650 as gold and silver ETFs fall up to 20%

Indian equity benchmarks opened on a weak note on Thursday, tracking losses across Asian markets amid continued pressure on global technology stocks.

At 9:23 am, the BSE Sensex was down 217 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 83,601, while the NSE Nifty 50 slipped 81 points, or 0.31 per cent, to trade at 25,695. On the Sensex, shares of IndiGo, BEL, Eternal, Asian Paints and Axis Bank led the losses, declining up to 2 per cent. Meanwhile, HUL, SBI, Infosys, NTPC and ICICI Bank bucked the trend, gaining as much as 1.2 per cent.

The broader market also remained under pressure. The Nifty Midcap 100 index eased 0.25 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 0.66 per cent.

Sectoral performance was mixed, with Nifty Metal emerging as the top laggard, sliding 1.8 per cent. Pharma, Auto, Financials and Realty indices also traded lower, shedding up to 0.9 per cent.

Global cues weigh

Asian markets extended losses as the sell-off in technology stocks deepened on investor concerns. South Korea’s Kospi was down 2 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.7 per cent, at last count.

Overnight, Wall Street closed lower, with the Nasdaq 100 recording its worst two-day decline since October and falling below its 100-day moving average, according to Bloomberg. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended down 0.51 per cent and 1.51 per cent, respectively.