Stock Market: Sensex Falls Over 350 Points, Nifty50 Trades Below 18,050 Tracking Weak Cues

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, except Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, and Bharti Airtel, all the scrips were in the negative zone

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Thursday opened in the red tracking weak global cues. Rising Covid cases in China alarmed investors who had anticipated the world's second-largest economy to gather steam following the easing of strict restrictions. 

At 9.40 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down by 368 points to 60,541, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 18,015, down 107 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, except Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, and Bharti Airtel, all the scrips were in the negative zone.

Among individual stocks, shares of McLeod Russel surged over 3 per cent as it is in the process of negotiating with "multiple investors" to monetise assets and infuse fresh capital. Shares of Ashok Leyland gained over 2 per cent after the company bagged projects worth Rs 754.57 crore.

In the broader markets, Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 indices fell up to 0.4 per cent.

Volatility gauge, India VIX, climbed over 1 per cent.

Sectorally, barring Nifty Pharma index, which held marginal gains in a weak market, all sectors plunged in the sea of red.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the S&P BSE Sensex ended on a flat note at 60,910, down 17 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 eventually settled 10 points lower at 18,122.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading lower. Markets in the US had ended lower on Wednesday.

"Volatility is likely to be the hallmark for the day as traders roll over December F&O contracts," said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

International oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.31 per cent to $83 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 872.59 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee opened on a flat note against the US dollar on Thursday as softening crude oil prices in the global markets supported the local currency. Traders said the domestic unit is trading in a narrow range as muted domestic equities and sustained foreign fund outflows capped the appreciation bias.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.77 against the dollar, then gained ground to quote at 82.76, registering a rise of 4 paise over its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee gained 7 paise to close at 82.80 against the US dollar.