Indian stock market opens lower amid mixed global cues

Mumbai, Aug 22 (IANS) The Indian benchmark indices began the Friday morning session in the red zone, following a week-long rally, amid mixed global cues.

The BSE Sensex declined 290 points or 0.35 per cent to 81,709. Nifty 50 slipped 93 points or 0.37 per cent to 24,990 points.

Broader markets started the day mixed, as the Nifty midcap 100 index edged up slightly by 0.06 per cent, while Nifty smallcap index 100 fell by 0.24 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Bank (-0.45 per cent), Nifty IT (-0.27 per cent) ended lower. The FMCG and metal stocks also showed losses. Most of the other indices showed minor gains.

"The headwinds for the market from US tariffs will weigh on markets, constraining the rally of the last six days. A significant trend in the market is the outperformance of large caps, which is desirable and fundamentally justified," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

"While Nifty is up by 1 per cent during the last year, Nifty Midcap 150 is down by 0.35 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 250 is down by 4.7 per cent during the same period. This trend is fundamentally justified and likely to continue. Midcap IT is showing resilience now," he added.

Top gainers in the Nifty pack were Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, and Hindalco. Top laggard was the SBI Life Insurance down 1.24 per cent followed by Asian Paints, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, and Grasim.

"On the technical front, a decisive move above the 25,150 level could pave way for an upside toward 25,250 and 25,500, while immediate supports are placed at 25,000 and 24,850—levels considered attractive for fresh long positions," said Amruta Shinde from Choice Equity Broking.

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed as investors awaited US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the central bank’s annual economic symposium, which could offer cues on the trajectory of interest rates.

The US markets ended in the red zone overnight. The Dow Jones fell by 0.34 per cent, while the NASDAQ declined by 0.34 per cent and the S&P 500 dipped by 0.4 per cent.

Asian stocks broke rank with their US peers in the morning session. China's Shanghai index and Shenzhen index inched up by 0.63 per cent and 1.24 per cent respectively. Japan's Nikkei was flat with a 0.01 per cent uptick, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index inched up 0.27 per cent, and South Korea's KOSPI advanced by 0.77 per cent.

On Thursday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers after two days of selling, purchasing Indian equities worth Rs 1,247 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued their buying activity with net purchases of Rs 2,546 crore.

–IANS

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