Indian equity benchmarks opened lower on Tuesday, September 8, tracking a cautious trend at the start of the trading session.
The BSE Sensex opened at 75,970.28, down 162.53 points, or 0.21 per cent, from its previous close of 76,132.81.
The Nifty 50 also started the session in the red. The index opened at 23,743.10 and was trading at 23,705.70, down 73.45 points, or 0.31 per cent, at 9:15 am.
Selling seen across several key sectors. The broader market also traded in the red. Nifty Midcap 100 fell 0.14 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 0.17 per cent. The Nifty 500 was down 0.27 per cent. The Nifty Microcap 250 was the only notable gainer among the broader indices, rising 0.05 per cent.
IT, realty stocks lead sectoral losses
Most sectoral indices traded lower. Nifty IT was the worst performer, falling 0.62 per cent. Nifty Realty declined 0.95 per cent, while Nifty Auto fell 0.47 per cent.
Nifty Financial Services was down 0.42 per cent, while Nifty Private Bank declined 0.38 per cent. Nifty Bank fell 0.24 per cent.
Other losers included Nifty Pharma, down 0.22 per cent, Nifty Oil and Gas, down 0.29 per cent, and Nifty Cement, down 0.15 per cent. Nifty FMCG was nearly flat, down 0.03 per cent.
Metal stocks bucked the broader trend. Nifty Metal gained 0.45 per cent, while Nifty Chemicals rose 0.13 per cent. Nifty Media was also marginally higher at 0.01 per cent.
HDFC Life, BEL among top gainers
Among Nifty 50 stocks, HDFC Life was the top gainer, rising 1.93 per cent. BEL gained 1.36 per cent, while Hindalco Industries advanced 1.07 per cent.
Coal India rose 0.84 per cent, followed by Hindustan Unilever, which gained 0.29 per cent. Eicher Motors and JSW Steel were also marginally higher.
On the other hand, Shriram Finance was the biggest laggard, falling 1.42 per cent. Trent declined 1.40 per cent, while M&M fell 1.15 per cent.
TMPV dropped 1.12 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, which fell 1.04 per cent. Indigo, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel were also among the major losers.
Banking heavyweights also faced selling pressure. ICICI Bank fell 0.62 per cent, Axis Bank declined 0.74 per cent, HDFC Bank was down 0.51 per cent and Bajaj Finance slipped 0.50 per cent.
FII selling continues
Foreign institutional investors remained cautious. After two days of selling, FIIs made a small cash-market purchase of around Rs 280 crore.
However, on a broader basis, FIIs remained net sellers for the fourth straight day across cash, index futures and stock futures, with net selling of around Rs 3,616 crore.
FII selling in index futures continued for the 11th straight session, with sales of around Rs 2,262 crore. Their long position in index futures also eased slightly to 10.93 per cent from 11.11 per cent.
Domestic funds continued their buying streak. They remained net buyers for the 20th straight session, purchasing around Rs 566 crore.
Global cues remain mixed
Global market signals were mixed. Dow futures were down around 300 points, while Nasdaq futures were higher by around 125 points.
Asian markets were largely firm, with Nikkei trading at a three-week high and Kospi gaining for the fourth straight session.
The US 10-year Treasury yield rose for the second day and moved above 4.79 per cent. The dollar index slipped below 99.
The rupee remained largely unchanged at around 94.49 per dollar after closing at a 10-week high.
Brent crude closed near $97 a barrel, its highest level since June 3. Gold on Comex fell around $20 to near $4,420, while silver gained 0.5 per cent to move above $67.
Copper touched a record high globally and is now around 50 per cent more expensive than a year ago. Zinc gained 1 per cent, while aluminium rose 0.5 per cent