Stock markets open in green but slip into red; Sensex down 281 points

The Indian stock markets opened in the green on Thursday as buying was being seen in the IT and PSU bank sectors but soon slipped into negative domain.

The Sensex began trading at 81,707.38 after rising 206.02 points or 0.25 per cent in early trade but lost 281 points soon reaching 81,219.47 points as of 10:45 a.m.

The Nifty was trading at 24,986 after rising 14.70 points or 0.06 per cent when the markets opened but slipped by 127 points to 24,843.35 (0.51%) at 10:45 a.m.

Opening in green

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,114 stocks were trading in the green while 903 stocks were trading in the red. On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 1401 stocks were trading in the green and 950 stocks were trading in the red an hour ago.

Nifty Bank was at 51,813.30 after rising 12.25 points or 0.02 per cent. The Nifty Midcap index was trading at 59, 339.85 level after slipping 112 points or 0.19 per cent. At the same time, the Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 19,317.35 after gaining 12.45 points or 0.06 per cent.

Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, and SBI were the top gainers in the Sensex pack, whereas Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were the top losers. Hindalco, SBI, Infosys, and Wipro were the top gainers in the Nifty pack, whereas Bajaj Auto, Hero Motocorp and Mahindra & Mahindra were the top losers.

According to market experts, the market remains in a consolidation phase, with little change in chart structure. “While prices tested the lower end of the trading range and closed near it, a break below 24,900 could open doors for further weakness, potentially testing the 24,700 level,” they said.

Talking about Asian markets, except Tokyo, the stock markets in Bangkok, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Jakarta and Seoul were trading in the green. The US stock market closed in the green on the previous trading day.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 3,436 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 2,256.29 crore on the same day.

(With inputs from IANS)