New Delhi: The key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday started trade lower tracking global weakness.
Unabated selling across all sectors, coupled with constant outflows of foreign funds also played spoilsport.
At 10 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was down 366 points to 56,990, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 17,083, down 117 points.
On the BSE, barring Reliance, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, and HDFC, the remaining 26 constituents were trading in the red. Bajaj Finance is the prime loser on the platform, shedding 4.48 per cent. Reliance is leading the BSE, up 1.55 per cent.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices also opened in the negative zone, down by 0.24 per cent.
Sectorwise, Nifty IT, Financials, Bank, and Auto were on the losing side, dropping up to 1 per cent. Nifty Metal index was the only one in the positive territory.
V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, told the PTI, “The real worry for markets now is a possible sharp global slowdown triggered by the coming aggressive monetary tightening in the US, severe Covid-related lockdowns in China and woes in the Euro Zone caused by the Ukraine war.”
In the previous session on Tuesday, the Sensex jumped 776 points (1.37 per cent) to end at 57,356 on Tuesday. The Nifty rallied 246 points (1.46 per cent) to 17,200.80.
Meanwhile, Asian markets were trading on a mixed note in mid-session deals, with Tokyo and Seoul quoting over 1 per cent lower, while Hong Kong and Shanghai trading marginally higher.
Stocks in the US had ended significantly lower on Tuesday.
International oil benchmark Brent crude gained 0.5 per cent to $105.42 per barrel.
On Tuesday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling spree, offloading shares worth Rs 1,174.05 crore, according to stock exchange data.