The Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Wednesday amid mixed global cues, with selling pressure seen in the IT, PSU bank, and financial services sectors.
At around 9:34 am, the Sensex was trading 181.63 points, or 0.22 per cent, lower at 83,530.88, while the Nifty declined 44.25 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 25,478.25.
“After a flat to negative opening, the Nifty can find support at 25,500, followed by 25,400 and 25,300. On the higher side, 25,600 can act as immediate resistance, followed by 25,700 and 25,800,” said Hardik Matalia of Choice Broking.
According to analysts, a key takeaway from recent global market trends is that investors are largely ignoring the noise around tariffs and are waiting for clearer developments.
US President Trump has proposed tariffs of up to 200 per cent on pharmaceuticals and 50 per cent on copper products. Copper futures jumped over 17 per cent before pulling back slightly. The copper tariffs appear more likely in the near term, while the pharmaceutical tariffs may take longer to materialise, said Vikram Kasat, Head of Advisory at PL Capital.
Markets are expected to remain cautious until more clarity emerges on the trade front, analysts noted.
In early trade, the Nifty Bank index was down 196.25 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 57,060.05. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 59,487.45, up 72 points, or 0.12 per cent. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index stood at 18,979.75, gaining 84.55 points, or 0.45 per cent.
In the Sensex pack, HCL Tech, Infosys, Tata Steel, L&T, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, M&M, Eternal and Trent were among the top losers. On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, and Power Grid were among the top gainers.
On the institutional front, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 26.12 crore on July 8, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,366.82 crore on the same day.
In Asian markets, Bangkok and Hong Kong were trading in the red, while Japan, Seoul, China, and Jakarta were trading higher.
In the last trading session, the Dow Jones in the US closed at 44,240.76, down 165.60 points, or 0.37 per cent. The S&P 500 ended with a loss of 4.46 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 6,225.52, while the Nasdaq closed at 20,418.46, up 5.95 points, or 0.03 per cent.
—IANS
