Opening Bell: Indian Nifty 50 Below 18,128 & Sensex Down 340.45 Points

Opening Bell: Indian equity indices opened in red on Wednesday continued to trade in the thin line between red and green initially before slipping into deep red. The BSE Sensex fell 78.69 or 0.13 per cent to 61,215.51 and NSE Nifty dropped 20.05 points or 0.11 per cent to 18,212.50.

Shares of oil companies are in focus as government announces hike in windfall tax. It is expected to add 6,000 barrels of crude oil per day to ONGC’s production in the coming days.

Crude Oil may weaken below Rs 6,340; MCX Crude Oil January futures could slide to Rs 5,940 or even re-test the recent lows at Rs 5,850-level; Natural Gas seems on course to test Rs 290 level.

Rupee opens four paise higher at 82.84 vs dollar.

Gold became dearer in Wednesday’s early trade while the price of silver remained unchanged. Ten grams of 24-carat gold is trading at Rs 55,590, after an increase of Rs 10. Silver is selling at Rs 72,000. Ten grams of 22-carat gold is selling at Rs 50,960, after an increase of Rs 10.

Spot gold held its ground at $1,838.69 per ounce, after hitting a six-month peak in the previous session. US gold futures dipped 0.1 per cent to $1,843.60.

Asian and US stock markets

Asian markets were largely in the green in early trade following a lower close on Wall Street.

China’s Shanghai composite index rose 10.01 points or 0.32 per cent to 3,126.52 on Wednesday and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 462.92 points or 2.30 per cent to 20,608.21. The US stock market concluded the overnight session in the red.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth a net Rs 628.07 crore while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth a net Rs 350.57 crore on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, according to the data available on NSE.

Asian stocks indices

Opening Bell: SGX Nifty is trading 0.77 per cent lower at 18,165.00.

Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.12 percent in early trade, trading 1.27 per cent lower at 25,763.51.

China, Hang Seng is trading with the gain of 2.30 per cent at 20,608.21.

Taiwan Weighted is trading 0.12 per cent lower at 14,206.35.

South korea, Kospi is trading with the gain of 1.73 per cent at 2,257.04.

Shanghai Composite is trading with the gain of 0.32 per cent at 3,126.52.

Relentless run of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, and China’s Covid crisis will keep investors guarded. Investors will be keeping an eye on the Federal Reserve’s December meeting minutes to trickle in on Thursday.

Also read: Closing Bell: Sensex & Nifty End Higher In Green