Stock Market: Sensex Falls 112 Points, Nifty Trades Around 18,250. IT, Realty Stocks Drag

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Asian Paints, HCL, Infosys, Kotak Bank, HUL, Wipro, TCS emerged in the red in early trade

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, opened lower on Wednesday tracking losses in US equities overnight. At 9.50 am, the BSE Sensex dropped 112 points to 61,820. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty was trading at 18,258, down 28 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Asian Paints, HCL, Infosys, Kotak Bank, HUL, Wipro, TCS emerged in the red in early trade. On the flipside, Airtel, UltraCemco, L&T, ITC, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors were among the winners.

Among specific stocks, Bharti Airtel gained 1 per cent on 50 per cent YoY jump in its Q4 net profit.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained up to 0.5 per cent.

Sectorwise, Nifty IT, Metal, Realty indices were the top losers, down up to 0.5 per cent, while PSB index jumped 1 per cent.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the S&P BSE Sensex ended 413 points lower at 61,932. The Nifty 50 dropped 112 points to 18,287.

"As a batsman approaches a century, he might get stuck for a while in the 'nervous nineties'. It appears that the market is in a similar state while approaching a new all-time high. Even though the conditions are favourable for a new record, there are near-term issues like the US debt ceiling impasse which can weigh over global markets in the near-term," V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said.

In Asia, Seoul, and Tokyo markets were trading in the green, while Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted lower. The US market ended lower on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 10 paise to 82.35 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, weighed down by the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and a negative trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.29 against the dollar, then fell to 82.35, registering a decline of 10 paise over its last close. On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 82.25 against the dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.04 per cent to 102.60.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,406.86 crore, according to exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.11 per cent to $74.99 per barrel.