The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday opened in losses as apprehensions in the regional banking space deepened on Wall Street overnight. At 9.45 am, the BSE Sensex declined 275 points to 61,475. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 18,178, down 77 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Tata Steel, NTPC, Asian Paints, HCL, were among the early losers. On the flipside, Axis Bank, L&T, ICICI Bank, Nestle, Titan, SBI emerged winners.
Among specific stocks, Manappuram Finance plunged 10 per cent after the ED froze the company’s assets worth Rs 143 crore following searches at six premises belonging to the firm and its managing director VP Nandakumar.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose up to 0.3 per cent.
Sectorwise, Nifty Financial index lost the most, dropping over 1 per cent while PSB, FMCG, and auto pockets bucked trend and held gains of up to 0.5 per cent.
In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE benchmark ended 556 points stronger at calendar year’s high at 61,749. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty 50 touched a high of 18,267, before settling with a solid 166-point gain at 18,256.
In Asian markets, Shanghai traded lower, while Hong Kong quoted in the green. The US markets had ended lower on Thursday.
"The mother market US has turned weak and the S&P 500 has slipped for the fourth day on renewed fears of stress in the US banking system," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. "The risk-averse market environment in overnight trades at Wall Street is indicating a choppy session for key local benchmark indices," he added.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Thursday also as they bought equities worth Rs 1,414.73 crore, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.66 per cent to $72.98 per barrel.