New Delhi: The key domestic benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday started trading in the red due to constant selling pressure amid rising fears of Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The indices were swinging between gains and losses becasue of volatile investors' sentiments. At 10 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was recorded marginally low at 57,875, down 16 points, while the NSE Nifty was at 17,306, down 2 points.
Among the Sensex platform Tata Steel, NTPC, Maruti, M&M, L&T, PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, and SBI were the top gainers, trading up between 0.94 per cent and 0.1 per cent. On the Nifty, Coal India, UPL were the additional gainers, up 2 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.
On the flipside, Cipla, Wipro, Tech M, Nestle, Infosys, HCL Tech, Ultratech Cement, HDFC Bank, TCS, Asian Paints, meanwhile, were the top losers, down up to 1 per cent.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were also in the negative territory, down 0.4 per cent each. The volatility index climbed 5 per cent as investors grew jittery.
Analysts said that Indian markets opened flat in line with range-bound muted Asian markets and sharply lower US markets on Thursday.
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said, "US stocks ended sharply lower on Thursday, as investors dealt with renewed fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine as the US and its allies accused Moscow of continuing to build up troop levels.
Investors hastened a move late in the session towards defensive sectors and safe havens such as US bonds and gold, as geopolitical tensions between Washington and Russia over Ukraine flared, he added.
Other Asian markets witnessed selloffs as investors weighed renewed US warnings of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine.
Crude oil benchmark Brent Futures dropped 0.71 per cent to trade at $92.31 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 1,242.10 crore in the Indian capital markets on Thursday, exchange data showed.