Stock Market Opening Bell: Sensex, Nifty Up Marginally, Bharat Petroleum Shares Jump Over 3%

On the Sensex platform, Titan, Power Grid, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, and Nestle India emerged as early gainers, while, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, TCS, IndusInd Bank, and JSW Steel were among the losers.

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday opened nearly flat. The BSE Sensex stood at 65,966.72, up by 35.95 points, while the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 19,794.80, up by 11.40 points, as of 9:31 AM. 

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Titan, Power Grid, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, and Nestle India emerged as early gainers. On the downside, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, TCS, IndusInd Bank, and JSW Steel were among the losers. Among specific stocks on the Nifty, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd shares gained 3.26 per cent, followed by Cipla, up by 2.01 per cent. 

Among broader indices, the Nifty Smallcap 50 registered the largest drop of 0.77 per cent, followed by Nifty Smallcap 100 which dropped 0.41 per cent in morning trade. Sectorwise, it was a mix of green and red on the NSE, where Nifty Realty and Nifty Metal led the losses with 0.62 per cent and 0.47 per cent respectively. On the other hand, Nifty Pharma gained 0.74 per cent, and Nifty Oil & Gas was up by 0.59 per cent. 

In the previous session on Tuesday, the indices snapped their 2-day losing run amid positive global cues. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 276 points to close at 65,931. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 settled at 19,783, up 89 points. 

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee depreciated 4 paise to 83.32 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday.  The domestic unit traded in a narrow range after opening at 83.31, and then hitting a high of 83.30 and low of 83.32 against the greenback. Forex traders attributed this movement to a sustained foreign fund outflow impacting investor sentiments, and a muted trend in domestic equities. On Tuesday, the rupee settled 10 paise higher at 83.28 against the US dollar. 

As of 9:42 AM, the Sensex was up marginally by 70.08 points to 66,000.85, while the Nifty50 stood at 19,807.95, up by merely 24.55 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 455.59 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DII) invested in shares worth Rs 721.52 crore, according to exchange data. Global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.13 per cent to $82.34 a barrel.