The Indian equity markets opened with marginal gains early on Friday as elevated crude oil prices, high US bond yields and selling in IT stocks weighed on investors’ sentiment.
After losses in the previous session, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 86 points to 73,672.98 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty was up 18.80 points to 23,080.45.
However, the BSE benchmark later quoted 12.95 points down at 73,568.22, and the Nifty dipped 16.75 points to trade at 23,049.40.
Among the 30 Sensex firms, Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid, State Bank of India, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finance were the major winners.
Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and NTPC were among the laggards.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 0.99 per cent lower at USD 105.5 per barrel.
“Sometimes many negative news come together to spook the markets. This was what happened yesterday when rising US bond yields, spiking crude and concerns over IRDA’s proposals on insurance commissions spooked the Nifty by 383 points. Even though crude has cooled off a bit, Brent remains high at USD 106,” V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
The US 10-year yield hovering around 5.2 per cent continues to be a strong headwind for equity markets globally and for India elevated crude would remain a big challenge if it remains high for too long, he added.
In Asian markets, Nikkei 225 index quoted in positive territory, while Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index traded lower.
US markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 5,027.36 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
On Thursday, the Sensex tanked 1,247.71 points, or 1.67 per cent, to settle at 73,580.54. The Nifty dropped 383.70 points, or 1.64 per cent, to end at 23,063.10.
(With PTI inputs)
