Indian Stock Market Opens In The Red As Key Sectors Decline

The Indian stock market opened lower on Tuesday, with significant selling pressure observed in the Nifty’s PSU Bank, financial services, FMCG, and metal sectors. As of 9:33 am, the Sensex was trading at 81,548.45, down by 200.12 points or 0.24 percent. Meanwhile, the Nifty dropped 62.70 points, or 0.25 percent, to trade at 24,605.5.

Despite the overall decline, the broader market showed positive trends. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,263 stocks were in the green, while 989 stocks were trading in the red. Among the key indices, Nifty Bank fell by 133.10 points, or 0.25 percent, to 53,448.25. However, the Nifty Midcap 100 index rose by 144.25 points, or 0.24 percent, reaching 59,587.30, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained 44.40 points, or 0.23 percent, to stand at 19,575.45.

Top Gainers And Losers In The Sensex Pack

In the Sensex pack, Reliance, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel, JSW Steel, HDFC Bank, and Infosys were the biggest losers. Conversely, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever Limited, HCL, and Tech Mahindra emerged as the top gainers.

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Looking globally, markets are awaiting the Federal Open Market Committee’s outcome on Wednesday. Experts predict that a 25 basis point rate cut is already priced into the markets, so all eyes will be on the Federal Reserve Chair’s commentary for further clues. Additionally, the strong US services PMI reading of 58.5 suggests a resilient economy, which is seen as a positive signal for the market.

Asian And US Market Performance

Asian markets showed mixed results. While Japan’s market was in the green, the markets in China, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul, and Jakarta were all trading in the red. On Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 ended higher by 1.24 percent and 0.38 percent, respectively. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.25 percent lower in the previous session.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to sell equities, offloading stocks worth Rs 278.70 crore in India on December 16. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were also net sellers, with a total equity sale of Rs 234.25 crore on the same day.