Stock Market: Sensex Marginally Down By 78 Points, Nifty Holds 18,100 Amid Volatility

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, TCS, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance, HCL Tech, UltraCemco, and others were the laggards

The key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, opened lower during early morning trade amid tepid global cues on Wednesday. The domestic indices, however, recouped some of their losses and turned flat as the day progresses.

At 9.40 am, the BSE Sensex was marginally down by 78 points to 60,848, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 18,113, down 18 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, TCS, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance, HCL Tech, UltraCemco, and others were the laggards. On the flip side, Titan, PowerGrid, NTPC, Asian Paint, Maruti, M&M, and others were the gainers.

Among individual stocks, shares of Welspun Enterprises gained over 2 per cent after the board plans to mull share buyback on December 30.

The overall market breadth stood positive on the BSE as 1,204 stocks were advancing, while 1,152 were declining.

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

Volatility gauge, India VIX, meanwhile, climbed over 2 per cent.

All sectors were trading in sea of red, with Nifty IT, Nifty PSU Bank, and Nifty Metal indices dropped up to 1 per cent.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the S&P BSE Sensex gained around 361 points at 60,927, while the broader NSE Nifty 50 closed at 18,132, up 118 points.

Meanwhile, the rupee opened on a flat note against the US dollar on Wednesday amid rising crude oil prices and persistent foreign capital outflows. Forex traders said a strengthening American currency and muted domestic equities weighed on the local unit and restricted the appreciation bias.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.84 against the dollar, then fell to quote at 82.86, registering a rise of just 1 paisa over its previous close. On Tuesday, the rupee closed at 82.87 against the dollar.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.11 per cent to $84.42 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 867.65 crore, according to exchange data.