Stock Market Today LIVE: The Indian stock market opened marginally lower on Friday, 20 February, extending losses from previous session’s crash, amid cautious investor sentiment over escalating tensions between US and Iran.
The Sensex opened 225.65 points, or 0.27%, lower at 82,272.49, while the Nifty 50 opened 47.80 points, or 0.19%, lower at 25,406.55. Bank Nifty fell 111.70 points, or 0.18%, to open at 60,627.85.
Globally, Asian markets traded mixed, with Japan’s Nikkei and Topix falling over 1% each and South Korea’s Kospi bucking the trend. The US stock market ended lower overnight, with all three major Wall Street indices closing in the red.
Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East escalated after US President Donald Trump warned Iran that it must make a deal over its nuclear program or “really bad things” will happen, and set a deadline of 10 to 15 days.
In the previous session, the domestic equity market indices ended sharply lower, with the Nifty 50 closing below 25,500 level. The Sensex crashed 1,236.11 points, or 1.48%, to close at 82,498.14, while the Nifty 50 settled 365.00 points, or 1.41%, lower at 25,454.35.
Gold and Silver Prices
Gold and silver prices on Multi Commodity Exchange of India opened higher amid safe-haven buying on rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
MCX gold rate today opened 0.18% higher at ₹1,55,105 per 10 grams level as against its previous close of ₹1,54,819 level. MCX silver rate opened higher by ₹2,481, or 1.02%, at ₹2,43,874 per kg as against its previous close of ₹2,41,393 level.
In the international market, spot gold price eased 0.1% to $4,995.91 per ounce, while US gold futures for April delivery were up 0.3% at $5,013.60. Spot silver price fell 0.1% to $78.29 per ounce.
Stocks to watch
Waaree Energies, Texmaco Rail & Engineering, RailTel Corporation of India, Novartis India, ABB India, CIE Automotive, Pace Digitek, Zydus Lifesciences, Karur Vysya Bank are among stocks that will be in focus today, 20 February.
Stay tuned to our Stock Market Today Live Blog for the latest updates.