Stock Market: Sensex Sheds 85 Points, Nifty Trades Below 17,700 On Weak Cues. IT, Realty Stocks Drag

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, TechM, HCL, Titan, Kotak Bank emerged early losers. On the flip side, L&T, NTPC, Maruti, Tata Steel, HDFC twins were the winners

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday started trade lower tracking weak global cues. The domestic indices gradually erasing losses.

At 9.40 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 85 points to 60,139. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 17,688, down 23 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, TechM, HCL, Titan, Kotak Bank emerged early losers. On the flip side, L&T, NTPC, Maruti, Tata Steel, HDFC twins were the winners.

Among individual stocks, shares of Adani Power gained over 1 per cent after the company amalgamated six wholly-owned subsidiary companies, including Adani Power (Mundra), with itself.

In the broader markets, Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices declined up to 0.5 per cent.

Volatility gauge, India VIX, meanwhile, climbed over 3 per cent.

Among sectors, barring Nifty Media index, which held marginal gains, all other sectors plunged in the sea of red. Nifty IT, and Nifty Realty indices declined the most - over 1 per cent each.

In the previous session on Monday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 60,224, up 415 points. On the other hand, the Nifty50 advanced 117 points to close at 17,711.

On account of Holi, stock markets remained closed on Tuesday.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday said the latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated. "If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes," he said.

In a pre-open market note, Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC securities, said Indian markets could open lower, in line with negative Asian markets today and lower US markets. He said the US stock indexes finished sharply lower on Tuesday as investors digested Powell's hawkish message that the central bank will not rule out bigger interest rate hikes at the coming March meeting in order to tame stubborn inflation.

On Monday, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) were net buyers, making investments worth Rs 721.37 crore, according to data available with BSE.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.28 per cent to $83.52 per barrel.

Meanwhile, The rupee depreciated 37 paise to 82.29 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, weighed down by 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 weak at 82.25 against the dollar, then fell to 82.29, registering a decline of 37 paise over its last close. On Monday, the rupee settled at 81.92 against the US dollar.