Indian stock market opens in the red for the third straight session, Sensex slips nearly 200 points

Mumbai (The Uttam Hindu): Amid mixed cues from global markets, India’s benchmark stock indices opened lower on Wednesday, marking the third consecutive session of decline. In early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex was down by around 199 points or 0.23 percent, trading near the 84,864 mark. The NSE Nifty also slipped 54 points or 0.2 percent to trade around 26,125 at the time of filing this report.

In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap index gained 0.31 percent, while the Nifty Smallcap index declined by 0.28 percent. On the sectoral front, Nifty Financial Services emerged as the worst performer, falling 0.4 percent. This was followed by Nifty Auto, which slipped 0.3 percent, and Nifty Private Bank, down 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, some sectors showed strength. Nifty IT rose by 1 percent, Nifty Metal gained 0.7 percent, and Nifty FMCG edged up by 0.16 percent. Out of the 30 Sensex stocks, 18 were trading in the red. HDFC Bank recorded the biggest loss, falling 1.3 percent. Other major losers included Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, HUL, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, L&T and M&M.

On the other hand, Titan Company surged the most with a gain of 3.7 percent. HCL Tech, Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Eternal and Tata Steel also traded with gains.

Dr. V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said that the market has lacked a clear trend in recent sessions. He noted that movements in a few heavyweight stocks are having an outsized impact on overall market direction.

He cited Tuesday’s session as an example, where despite positive institutional buying, the Nifty ended 71 points lower, mainly due to sharp declines in Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank. According to him, heavy volumes in both the derivatives and cash markets suggest settlement-related activity, indicating that the fall was driven by technical factors rather than fundamentals.

Looking ahead, experts expect high volatility in the markets due to news-driven developments. Statements and decisions by former US President Donald Trump could influence market sentiment at any time. Investors are also closely watching a possible Supreme Court verdict related to Trump-era tariffs. If the ruling goes against reciprocal tariffs, it could trigger sharp fluctuations in global and Indian equity markets.

In the previous trading session on Tuesday, Indian equities also closed lower. The Sensex fell 376.28 points or 0.44 percent to settle at 85,063.34, while the Nifty declined 71.60 points or 0.27 percent to end at 26,178.70.