The Indian equity benchmarks opened lower on Tuesday amid high volatility in early trade. The BSE Sensex fell 164 points to 71,777 in opening deals while the NSE Nifty 50 Index declined 23 points to 21,715.
On the BSE Sensex pack, Bajaj Finance was the top loser in early trade, falling 3.85%. Other major losers included Reliance Industries, ITC, ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Conversely, Hindustan Unilever, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Wipro, Tata Steel, and Bharti Airtel bucked the weak market trend to trade higher.
The broader Indian stock markets also witnessed selling pressure in early deals. The BSE Midcap Index rose 0.6% while the BSE Smallcap Index climbed 0.8%, performing better than benchmark indexes.
All sectoral indices on the NSE traded in the positive zone barring the Nifty Energy Index. The Nifty IT Index rose 0.5% followed by gains in metal, realty, and oil & gas shares.
In stock-specific action, shares of Bajaj Finance slumped 3.85% to emerge as the top BSE Sensex loser. The company will announce its December quarter earnings later in the day which remains in focus.
On Monday, the Sensex had rallied 1,241 points to end at 71,942 while the Nifty 50 Index surged 385 points to 21,738. In the US, Wall Street indexes also ended at record highs, led by sharp gains in technology and internet stocks. Investors now await the outcome of the two-day US Federal Reserve policy meeting which gets underway later today.
