Stock Market Today: Sensex Opens Lower In Early Trade, Nifty Below 16,000

The Indian equities benchmark opened lower on Tuesday as indicated by the SGX index. At 9:20 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 144 points or 0.27 per cent lower at 52,702, whereas the NSE Nifty 50 index declined 21 points or 0.14 per cent at 15,752. 

Amongst the broader indices, Nifty Midcap 50 index surged 0.57 per cent at 7,397, whereas the Nifty Midcap 100 index advanced 0.42 per cent at 26,891. Barring the stocks of banking, financial services, auto, IT, and consumer durables, all other sectoral indices witnessed buying in early trade with media and metal stocks leading the pack. 

Amongst the NSE listed companies, PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Steel were the top gainers, whereas Asian Paint, Tech Mahindra, HDFC twins, and Tata Motors were the top losers. Amongst the BSE-listed companies, PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever, and Nestle India were the top gainers whereas Asian Paint, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Twins, Titan, Reliance Industries and Maruti Suzuki were the top losers. 

Meanwhile, the major indices in Asia were trading lower on Tuesday. The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was trading 0.9 per cent lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumped 2.00 per cent, whereas South Korea’s KOSPI was down 1.33 per cent. Hang Seng index was trading lower at 0.77 per cent. While China’s Shanghai Composite declined 0.39 per cent, Shenzhen Component was trading 1.49 per cent lower. 

Notably, the major indices in the US were trading lower on Monday as the fear of a more aggressive policy by the Federal Reserve to tame inflation gripped investors’ sentiments. The S&P 500 declined 151.23 points or 3.9 per cent to 3,749, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 876.50 points or 2.8 per cent to 30,516. The Nasdaq Composite fell 530.80 points or 4.7 per cent to 10,809. 

Back home, the foreign institutional investors (FII) continued to remain the net sellers worth Rs 4,164 crore, whereas the domestic institutional investors (DII) remained the net buyers worth Rs 2,814 crore on Monday. The Indian Rupee declined 11 paise, hitting an all-time low of 78.04 against the US Dollar on Monday. 

Crude oil prices fluctuated between positive and negative territory in the early hours on Tuesday as the Covid-19 cases continue to surge in China. Brent crude futures was down six cents to $122.21 per barrel whereas the US West Texas Intermediate crude eased four cents to $120.89 per barrel at 0156 GMT. 

Bajaj Finance, Zomato, Metropolis Healthcare, Torrent Power, Zydus Lifesciences, Aether Industries, Dynamatic Technologies, Capri Global Capital, WPIL and Delta Corp are the stocks that will remain in focus on Tuesday.