New Delhi: The key Indian equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday started trade lower led by weak cues among global peers amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
At 9.45 am, the BSE Sensex was at 55,115, down 743 points, while the NSE Nifty declined 271 points to 16,386.
Among the 30-share Sensex platform, all the constituents, except Power Grid (1.72 per cent), Tata Steel (1.21 per cent), and Sun Pharma (0.26 per cent), were trading in the red.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were also in the negative territory, down 1 per cent each.
Among sectors, the BSE Auto, Telecom, Bankex, and Realty indices slipped 2 per cent each, while IT and Pharm were down over a per cent each. BSE Metals was the outperformer and was flat in a weak market.
Most of the sector gauges, compiled by the National Stock Exchange, were trading in the negative zone. Nifty Auto and Nifty Bank were underperforming the index by slipping as much as 1.99 per cent and 1.92 per cent, respectively.
Tata Motors was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 2.99 per cent to Rs 446. HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, SBI Life, and Hero MotoCorp were also among the laggards.
Investors’ wealth slumped by more than Rs 4.09 lakh crore to Rs 245.93 lakh crore in early trade.
Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures, an early indicator of the Nifty index, were down 111.5 points or 0.7 per cent at 16,548, having given up initial gains earlier in the day.
In the previous session on Friday, Sensex had surged 1,329 points (2.44 per cent) to close at 55,859; while the broader NSE Nifty had moved 410 points (2.53 per cent) higher to settle at 16,658.