Indian Markets Open Lower Amid Selling in PSU Banks, Metal, and Realty Sectors
Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Tuesday as early trade saw selling pressure in the PSU bank, metal, and realty sectors. At 9:37 am, the Sensex was trading 193.10 points, or 0.25% down, at 75,803.76, while the Nifty fell by 76.95 points, or 0.34%, to stand at 22,882.55.
The Nifty Bank index dropped by 145.65 points, or 0.30%, to 49,113.25, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index was down by 91.25 points, or 0.18%, trading at 49,758.60. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index also saw a decline of 22.85 points, or 0.15%, reaching 15,390.25.
Technical experts indicated a ‘Falling Wedge’ pattern that linked major lows from August and November. However, recent price actions revealed another ‘Falling Wedge’ pattern on a shorter timeframe, linking the lows from November and January. Analysts pointed out strong support levels at every 100-point interval, particularly between 22,800-22,700, and lower levels of 22,600-22,500, which coincide with the 127% retracement of the early February rebound.
In the Sensex pack, notable gainers included Tech Mahindra, Zomato, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, HCLTech, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Maruti, and Bajaj Finance. On the other hand, the top losers were UltraTech Cement, Titan, NTPC, SBI, Tata Steel, and IndusInd Bank.
In global markets, the Dow Jones fell by 0.37% to close at 44,546.08, while the S&P 500 saw a marginal decline of 0.01%, settling at 6,114.63. The Nasdaq, however, managed a gain, climbing 0.41% to 20,026.77.
Asian markets were a mixed bag, with Jakarta, Seoul, Japan, China, and Hong Kong trading in the green, while Bangkok was in the red.
On the institutional front, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling streak, offloading equities worth ₹3,937.83 crore on February 17. In contrast, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers, purchasing equities worth ₹4,759.77 crore on the same day.
