The Indian equities benchmark opened lower on Monday as indicated by the SGX index. At 9:18 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 1,333 points or 2.46 per cent lower at 52,969, whereas the NSE Nifty 50 index declined 376 points or 2.33 per cent at 15,824.
Amongst the broader indices, Nifty Midcap 50 index slumped 2.22 per cent at 7,417, whereas the Nifty Midcap 100 index plunged 2.16 per cent at 26,981. All sectoral indices were trading in red between 0.31 per cent and 2.94 per cent.
Amongst the NSE listed companies, Cipla, SBI Life, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, and Britannia were the top gainers, whereas Hindalco, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, HDFC, and Kotak Bank were the top losers. Amongst the BSE-listed companies, Bajaj twins, ICICI Bank, SBI, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank, and HDFC were the top losers.
Meanwhile, the major indices in Asia were trading lower on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumped 2.85 per cent, whereas South Korea’s KOSPI was down 2.88 per cent. Hang Seng index was trading lower at 2.84 per cent. While China’s Shanghai Composite declined 1.28 per cent, Shenzhen Component was trading 0.32 per cent lower.
Notably, the major indices in the US were trading lower as the fear of more aggressive policy by Federal Reserve to tame inflation gripped investors’ sentiments. The S&P 500 declined 116 points or 2.9 per cent to 3,900, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 880 points or 2.7 per cent to 31,392. The Nasdaq Composite fell 414 points or 3.5 per cent to 11,340.
Back home, the foreign institutional investors (FII) continue to remain the net sellers worth Rs 3,973 crore, whereas the domestic institutional investors (DII) remained the net buyers' worth Rs 2,831 crore on Friday. The Indian Rupee declined 11 paise, hitting an all-time low of 77.85 against the US Dollar on Friday as a sell-off in domestic equities and a stronger greenback overseas weighed on investor sentiment.
Crude oil prices slipped $2 in the early hours on Monday. Brent crude futures were down $2.06 or 1.7 per cent to $119.95 per barrel whereas the US West Texas Intermediate crude slipped $2.13 to 118 per barrel at 0033 GMT.
Vedanta, IIFL, Coal India, HDFC Bank, Strides Pharma, Lemon Tree Hotels, and Deccan Health Care are the stocks in focus on Monday.
