Dalal Street Opens Weak: Sensex Tumbles 200 Points, Nifty Below 25,600

Sensex Slips Over 200 Points at Open; Nifty Trades Below 25,600 as Metals, Autos Weigh

Indian equity benchmarks opened lower on Tuesday, tracking muted Asian cues and stock-specific action amid thin regional volumes. The BSE Sensex declined 203 points, or 0.24 per cent, to trade at 83,074 in early deals. The Nifty 50 slipped 89 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 25,593, falling below the 25,600 mark.

Top Movers

Heavyweight stocks dragged the benchmarks lower. Key laggards on the Sensex included Kwality Walls (down 4.7 per cent), Eternal, M&M, RIL, Ultratech Cement, Tata Steel, Trent, ICICI Bank, Bajaj twins, HDFC Bank, and HUL.

On the upside, Asian Paints, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, BEL, TCS, IndiGo, and ITC provided some support to the indices.

Broader Markets & Sectoral Trends

The broader market indices also traded in the red, with the Nifty MidCap index down 0.23 per cent and the Nifty SmallCap index lower by 0.09 per cent.

Among sectors, metals led the decline. The Nifty Metal fell 0.96 per cent, followed by the Nifty Realty (down 0.5 per cent) and the Nifty Auto (down 0.4 per cent).

In contrast, the Nifty IT rose 0.9 per cent, emerging as the only sectoral gainer in early trade.

Global Market Cues

Asian markets presented a mixed picture.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 extended losses after softer-than-expected GDP data dampened investor sentiment, slipping 0.4 per cent. Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.64 per cent amid limited cues from the US.

Markets in mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore remained closed for Lunar New Year holidays, keeping overall Asian volumes subdued.

In US futures trade, the tone was mixed. Dow Jones futures were flat, S&P 500 futures edged up 0.05 per cent, while Nasdaq-100 futures dipped 0.07 per cent. US markets were closed on Monday on account of Presidents’ Day.