Sensex, Nifty open in red dragged by decline in IT and energy stocks

Benchmark stock market indices opened in red on Monday, further extending the downward trend dragged down by a decline in IT and energy sector stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex was down 420.71 points to 77,159.60, while the NSE Nifty50 lost 132.50 points to 23,400.25 as of 9:36 AM.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said that even though Nifty has corrected 10.4% from the peak there are no signs of a sustained recovery in the market.

IT sector stocks saw the most decline in early trade on the Nifty50 index, with Wipro dropping 3.22%, Infosys falling 2.90%, Tech Mahindra declining 2.73%, and HCL Technologies down 2.27%.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories faced the steepest decline of 3.44%.

Hero MotoCorp led the gainers with a strong surge of 4.21%, followed by Hindalco which advanced 2.95%. HDFC Bank showed positive momentum with a gain of 0.99%, while Bajaj Finserv moved up by 0.64%. Coal India rounded off the gainers list with an uptick of 0.57%.

“Relentless FII selling, earnings downgrades for majority of stocks for FY25, and the consequences of the Trump trade are weighing on the market. Sentiments have turned negative and, therefore, investors should exercise caution at this stage and wait for clarity on the direction of the market. With the dollar index strong at 106.6 and the 10-year US bond yield at 4.44% there is no room for a quick reversal of FII flows. Investors can focus on areas of strength like digital companies and high quality banking stocks. Largecaps like RIL and Eicher are showing resilience,” he added.

Broader market indices faced selling pressure with both mid and small-cap segments trading in negative territory. The Nifty Smallcap100 witnessed a decline of 1.24%, while the Nifty Midcap100 fell by 0.62%. Market volatility saw a spike as indicated by the India VIX, which rose by 7.12%.

Only 3 of the 16 sectoral indices were in green, with Nifty IT falling close to 3%. Nifty Oil and Gas declined by 2%, with banking, financial and FMCG also seeing a fall.