Markets Slip in Early Trade: Sensex Down 150 Points, Nifty Slips Below 25,800

Indian Markets Open Lower Amid Global Weakness, Auto and Pharma Stocks Drag.

Indian benchmarks opened lower on Thursday, extending a four-day losing streak amid weakness in Asian markets and ahead of the weekly expiry of Sensex derivatives contracts.

As of 9:20 AM, the 30-stock Sensex was trading at 84,434.8, down 124.8 points or 0.15%, while the Nifty50 stood at 25,789.75, down 22.15 points or 0.08%.

Top losers included Sun Pharma, TMPV, M&M, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki, Kotak Bank, Tata Steel, and BEL, falling up to 2%. Leading gainers were Infosys, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, TCS, SBI, and ITC.

Sector Performance:

Nifty Auto, Nifty Pharma, and Nifty Realty were the biggest laggards, down as much as 1%.

Nifty IT and PSU Bank indices gained 0.9% and 0.25%, respectively.

Broader markets: Nifty Midcap fell 0.10% and Nifty Smallcap declined 0.2%.

Global Cues:
Investors awaited key central bank announcements and economic data, including the Bank of England’s rate decision, the European Central Bank’s policy update, US inflation and jobless claims, and the Bank of Japan’s two-day policy meeting, where a potential rate hike to 0.75% is expected.

Equity markets across Asia-Pacific traded lower, reflecting Wall Street losses. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.53%, South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.36%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.3%.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 closed down 1.16%, the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.81% amid continued pressure on technology stocks, and the Dow Jones ended 0.47% lower.

Commodities:
Oil prices rose, with Brent crude up 1.29% at $59.68 per barrel and WTI crude gaining 1.64% to $56.86 per barrel.