Indian equity benchmarks opened lower on Monday, September 7, amid weak global cues.
The BSE Sensex fell 123.14 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 76,392.29 at 9:15 am. The index had closed at 76,515.43 in the previous session. It opened at 76,446.05.
The Nifty 50 declined 56.30 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 23,841.40. The index opened at 23,883.15.
Sectoral indices
Most sectoral indices traded in the red.
Nifty Media was the biggest laggard, falling 2.39 per cent. Nifty IT declined 1.28 per cent, while Nifty Auto fell 0.42 per cent.
Nifty Metal dropped 0.58 per cent and Nifty Cement declined 0.58 per cent. Nifty Realty fell 0.49 per cent, while Nifty FMCG was down 0.29 per cent.
Nifty Bank declined 0.22 per cent. Nifty Private Bank fell 0.21 per cent, while Nifty PSU Bank was down 0.12 per cent.
Nifty Financial Services slipped 0.04 per cent. Nifty Pharma was among the few gainers, rising 0.03 per cent.
The broader market also remained weak. Nifty Midcap 100 fell 0.23 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 0.11 per cent.
Top movers
Eternal was the top Nifty 50 gainer, rising 0.70 per cent. Coal India gained 0.66 per cent and Bharti Airtel rose 0.63 per cent.
Bajaj Finance gained 0.52 per cent, while ICICI Bank rose 0.42 per cent. Apollo Hospitals, BEL and Larsen & Toubro were also among the gainers.
On the losing side, Infosys declined 1.95 per cent. Tech Mahindra fell 1.47 per cent and Bajaj Auto dropped 1.30 per cent.
HDFC Life declined 1.15 per cent, while UltraTech Cement fell 1.07 per cent. Jio Financial Services, Wipro and HCL Technologies also traded lower.
FII, DII activity
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained sellers in the cash market for the second straight session. They sold shares worth Rs 3,111 crore, according to the latest data.
FIIs were net sellers of Rs 2,298 crore across cash, index futures and stock futures.
FIIs also remained sellers in index futures for the 10th straight session, with net selling of Rs 122 crore.
Their index futures long positions rose marginally to 11.11 per cent from 11.09 per cent.
Domestic institutional investors (DIIs), meanwhile, continued to support the market. They remained net buyers for the 19th straight session, with purchases worth Rs 8,930 crore.
Friday’s FII data also included block deals worth around Rs 3,200 crore in Gland Pharma and Swiggy.
Global market cues
US markets ended lower on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 272 points, while the Nasdaq declined 77 points.
Asian markets, however, started the week on a stronger note. Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi gained around 2.5-3 per cent in early trade.
The US 10-year Treasury yield ended at 4.78 per cent, breaking a two-day decline.
The dollar index also ended its two-day fall and closed at 99.15.
Bitcoin was trading near the $80,000 mark, close to a four-month high.
Brent crude remained near $97 a barrel after gaining around 10 per cent last week.
Gold and silver on Comex recorded their second straight weekly decline. In the domestic market, gold fell around Rs 3,000 to Rs 1.53 lakh, while silver declined Rs 4,700 to around Rs 2.38 lakh.
The rupee ended largely unchanged at 94.49 against the US dollar on Friday. It remained near a two-month high.
The Baltic Dry Index rose for the third straight session and reached its highest level since 2021.