New Delhi: The Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday started trade sharply lower due to weak global sentiment amid ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
At 10am, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 828 points to 54,247, while the Nifty was trading at 16,254, down 243 points.
Asian equity markets suffered heavy losses while oil prices soared as investors were apprehensive from reports of a nuclear power plant on fire in the war.
Asian Paints, Maruti, Axis Bank, Titan, Wipro, Bajaj twins, Kotak Bank, HUL, M&M, Tech M, Infosys, HDFC Bank were the top losers, up to 4 per cent lower.
Only four stocks on the BSE platform, ITC, Tata Steel, NTPC, and Dr Reddy’s, were trading in the green.
On the Nifty, auto players Hero MotoCorp, Eicher Motors, Tata Motors were the additional laggards.
Meanwhile, a few shares were trading higher on the bourses especially from the Metal pack. These included Tata Steel, Hindalco, JSW Steel, along with NTPC, UPL, and BPCL.
Sectorally, barring Nifty Metal index, all others were holding steep losses with Nifty Bank, Financials, Auto, IT, Realty, Pharma, FMCG trading 1-2 per cent lower.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were also in the negative territory, down up to 1 per cent.
Most of the sector gauges, compiled by the National Stock Exchange, were trading in the red. Nifty Auto and Nifty were underperforming the index by falling as much as 2.52 per cent and 1.86 per cent, respectively, in early trade. However, Nifty Metal moved as much as 0.57 per cent higher.
In the previous session, Sensex had slipped 366 points (0.66 per cent) to close at 55,103 on Thursday; while Nifty had moved 108 points (0.65 per cent) lower to settle at 16,498.
On Thursday, the rupee declined by 14 paise to close at 75.94 against the US dollar, pressured by surging crude oil prices amid intensifying conflict between Russia and Ukraine.