Sensex Slips 73 Points, Nifty Below 17,300 As Market Turns Volatile In Early Trade

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were mixed with the former in red, while the latter held gains of 0.26 per cent

Asian Paints, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, M&M, HUL, Nestle, Airtel, SBI, Grasim, Britannia, and Shree Cements were the top losers. Image: Getty

New Delhi: The domestic key benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday started trade on a positive note amid high volatility due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

At 9.45 am, the two indices slipped into the red in a volatile trade. The domestic and global market rallied last week in anticipation of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. However, nothing much materialised later which made the global investors shaky.

 The 30-share BSE Sensex moved 73 points down to 57,790, while the Nifty was at 17,264, down 22 points.

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At 9.48 a.m., #Sensex was 0.1 per cent or 71 points down at 57,793 points, whereas #Nifty 0.1 per cent or 10 points down at 17,277 points.

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- IANS (@IANS) 21 Mar 2022

On the Sensex platform, Maruti, Infosys, Wipro, Tata Steel, TechM, Titan, TCS, and Sun Pharma were the front winners, with opening gains of up to 1.8 per cent, while on the Nifty, Hindalco, ONGC, and Coal India were the top gainers, up to 3.5 per cent higher.

On the downside, Asian Paints, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, M&M, HUL, Nestle, Airtel, SBI, Grasim, Britannia, and Shree Cements were the top laggards.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were mixed with the former in red, while the latter held gains of 0.26 per cent.

Sectorally, Nifty IT and Metals were leading gains, higher by over a per cent each. Nifty Auto and Pharma were the other notable gainers. Of the 15 sector gauges, nine, compiled by NSE, were trading in the negative zone. Nifty Bank, Nifty FMCG were underperforming the index by dropping about 0.65 per cent and 0.66 per cent, respectively.

Among the 30 stocks, Maruti was the top performer as its parent Suzuki Motor announced on Sunday that it would invest Rs 10,440 crore to build a new electric car and battery factory in India. On the other hand, Asian Paints was down 1.5 per cent as crude oil prices are seen climbing again around $110 a barrel mark.  

Sensex rallied 1,047 points (1.84 per cent) to close at 57,864 on Thursday. The NSE Nifty moved 312 points (1.84 per cent) higher to end at 17,287. Indian indices were closed on Friday on account of Holi.