Sensex Marginally Down By 38 Points, Nifty At 17,320 in Volatile Opening Trade

New Delhi: The Indian equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, started session on Thursday amid volatility with the indices engaged in a see-saw during early morning trade.

The 30-share BSE Sensex, which started on a fairly positive note clocking modest gains, logged a decline of 38 points at 57,958, while the NSE Nifty was at 17,320 down 2 points. Both the indices were fluctuating between gains and losses.

Global stocks rebounded sharply after the Russian defence ministry published footage of its troops returning to base after exercises. But investors worlwide spooked by the news of Russian invasion of Ukraine can happen anytime now, according to the statement of White House said on Wednesday.

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Sensex opens at 58217 with a gain of 221 points.

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- BSEIndia (@bseindia) 17 Feb 2022

Among the Sensex platform, PowerGrid, Titan, NTPC, M&M, HDFC, Wipro, L&T, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, Nestle, Bajaj Finance, ITC, and Bharti Airtel were the top gainers, up 0.4-1 per cent. On the Nifty, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Indian Oil Corp, and Eicher Motors were the top additional gainers, trading 1.5-2.6 per cent.

On the flipside, Shree Cement, Britannia, Ultratech Cement, Sun Pharma, HUL, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank were among the top losers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were also in the positive territory, up 0.5 per cent each.

Nine out of the 15 sector gauges, compiled by the National Stock Exchange, settled in the red. Nifty PSU Bank underperformed the index by falling as much as 1.17 per cent.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Asia, markets were trading mixed as investors remained cautious after the US administration maintained that a possibility of Russian invasion on Ukraine was still on.

Global crude oil benchmark Brent Futures fell 0.86 per cent to $93.99 per barrel on Thursday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,890.96 crore, according to stock exchange data.

In the previous session, Sensex sank 145 points and Nifty was at 17,322 due to high volatility across sectors.