Stock Market Opens Flat, Nifty Realty, Metal Climb Over 1% In Morning Trade

The broader markets were trading in green in the morning hours. The Nifty Smallcap 50 led the gains and climbed 1.41 per cent, followed by the Nifty Smallcap 100 up by 1.06 per cent

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday, opened flat ahead of the Christmas weekend. At 9:38 AM, the BSE Sensex dropped 56.82 points to 70,808.28, while the NSE Nifty50 climbed 18.45 points to 21,273.50. 

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Kotak Bank, NTPC, and Sun Pharma emerged gainers in early trade. On the downside, Infosys, HDFC Bank, TCS, Asian Paint, and ICICI Bank were among the losers. 

The broader markets were trading in green in the morning hours. The Nifty Smallcap 50 led the gains and climbed 1.41 per cent, followed by the Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Microcap 250, both up by 1.06 per cent. 

Sectorally, Nifty IT and Bank led the losses with drops of 0.25 per cent and 0.17 per cent respectively. Nifty Private Bank and Financial Services were the other losers and were down by 0.16 per cent and 0.12 per cen respectively. The Nifty Realty and Metal indices led the gainers and climbed 1.52 per cent and 1.51 per cent respectively, followed by Pharma which gained 1.13 per cent. 

In the previous session on Thursday, the equity benchmarks closed higher in a volatile session amid buying in select financials, metals, and power stocks and in HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries. The S&P BSE Sensex, which hit an intraday low of 69,920, closed at 70,865, up 359 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 ended at 21,255, up 105 points. The index hit an intraday low of 20,976.80.

The domestic rupee appreciated 2 paise to touch 83.25 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday. Forex traders noted that a muted trend in domestic equity markets, outflow of foreign funds, and high volatility in crude oil prices due to geopolitical factors put a pressure on the Indian currency. On Thursday, the Indian rupee settled at 83.27 against the greenback. 

Global oil price benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.97 per cent to $80.16 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the equity market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,636.19 crore, according to exchange data.