The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday were trading in the red amid volatility. At 10 am, the BSE Sensex was down 113 points to 66,983. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty was trading at 19,799, down 34 points.
On the30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, HCL, UltracCemco, Bajaj Finance, Titan, Bajaj Finserv were among early losers. On the flipside, Reliance, Sun Pharma, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank emerged gainers.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up between 0.08 per cent and 0.3 per cent.
Sectorwise, the Nifty IT index fell 0.8 per cent, followed by the Nifty FMCG index (down 0.3 per cent). On the upside, the Nifty PSU bank index was up 0.47 per cent.
The special pre-open session of Reliance Industries is underway to discover the price of Jio Financial Services and RIL (ex-JFS). Shares of Reliance Industries settled at Rs 2,840 apiece on Wednesday. Early trends suggest Jio Financial Services may list around Rs 280 apiece. NSE conducted a special pre-open session for Reliance Industries Ltd on Thursday on account of the demerger of its financial services business, Reliance Strategic Investments Ltd.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the Sensex settled 302 points higher at 67,097 levels, while the Nifty50 closed at 19,833, up 84 points.
"The demerger of Jio Financial Services from RIL and the Q1 results of Infosys, HUL and a host of mid-cap IT companies can cause a lot of price action in the market today," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.
In Asian markets, Tokyo, and Shanghai were trading lower while Seoul and Hong Kong quoted in the green. The US markets ended in the positive territory on Wednesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.11 per cent to $79.55 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying activity as they bought equities worth Rs 1,165.47 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the rupee gained 6 paise to 82.02 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday supported by steady foreign fund inflows. However, a surge in crude oil prices capped sharp gains for the local unit, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.05, then touched a high of 82.02 against the American currency, registering a rise of 6 paise over its last close. On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 82.08 against the dollar.