The Indian stock markets weren’t able to shake off the negative sentiment prevalent in equities on Wednesday morning. The BSE Sensex started the day near 82k, crashing a little over 100 points, while the NSE Nifty50 touched 25,200, taking a hit of 25 points, as of 9:15 AM.

In the pre-open session, the Sensex plummeted 500 points and stood at 81,679, and the Nifty tested 24,950, around 9:02 AM.

On the Sensex, Eternal, Sun Pharma, IndiGo, Tata Steel, and PowerGrid stood among the gainers. Meanwhile, the laggards included ICICI Bank, BEL, Trent, HCL Tech, and Infosys.

Broader Markets And FII Flows

In the broader markets, indices across the board painted red, and the Nifty Midcap Select dipped 0.49 per cent. Sectorally, the Midsmall IT & Telecom and Chemicals indices dominated in red and crashed 1.73 per cent and 1.22 per cent respectively. On the other hand, the Metal and Pharma indices stood out among the few in green and rose 0.73 per cent and 0.60 per cent respectively.

On the institutional front, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued to pare their exposure to Indian equities. According to exchange data, FIIs sold shares worth Rs 2,938.33 crore on Tuesday. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), however, remained net buyers, picking up equities worth Rs 3,665.69 crore.

Global Markets

Asian markets were largely under pressure, reflecting the weak global risk mood. South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were all trading lower, while China’s Shanghai Composite was marginally higher.

Overnight, US markets saw a sharp sell-off. The Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.39 per cent, the S&P 500 dropped 2.06 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.76 per cent.

“US equity markets closed sharply lower overnight, with the S&P 500 slipping 2 per cent and the Nasdaq plunging close to 2.5 per cent, marking the worst single-day fall since October. The global sell-off was triggered by renewed trade-war concerns after President Trump escalated tariff threats on select European nations opposing US control over Greenland, with proposed duties rising from 10 per cent in February to 25 per cent by June,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm.

He added that fresh US tariff threats, along with sustained foreign investor selling, continue to weigh heavily on market sentiment.

In the commodities market, Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 1.11 per cent to $64.19 per barrel.

Markets On Jan 20

Notably, both equity benchmarks witnessed a heavy session on Tuesday, where the Sensex nosedived more than 1,000 points and sank below the 83k level. This downfall could be attributed to the widespread selloff tracking weak global markets and worsening geopolitical tensions. Further, the rupee also continued its depreciatory slide and foreign fund outflows impacted sentiment in the market.

The escalating tensions between US President Donald Trump and the EU over tariffs and Greenland added to the negative outlook prevalent among investors.