Sensex and Nifty fall at open amid weak global markets and West Asia tensions

Indian equity markets opened in negative territory on Wednesday, tracking weakness across global markets amid rising geopolitical tensions in West Asia and concerns over elevated bond yields.

The Sensex opened 394.36 points lower at 74,806.49, while the Nifty slipped 160.75 points to begin the session at 23,457.25.

Selling pressure intensified during early trade, with the 30-share Sensex dropping as much as 671 points, or 0.89 per cent, to touch an intraday low of 74,529. The Nifty also fell nearly 220 points to 23,397, down 0.93 per cent.

Sectoral indices remained broadly under pressure, led by losses in media, realty and chemical stocks. Nifty Media declined 1.90 per cent, while Nifty Realty dropped 1.63 per cent.

Nifty Chemicals fell 1.53 per cent and auto shares also weakened, with the Nifty Auto index down 1.42 per cent. Among banking stocks, the Nifty PSU Bank index declined 1.15 per cent, while FMCG and cement shares also traded lower.

Major laggards on the Nifty included Tata Steel, Bharat Electronics Limited, Mahindra & Mahindra, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki India, JSW Steel, Grasim Industries, ICICI Bank and Hindustan Unilever.

Market volatility also increased, with India VIX rising more than 3 per cent to hover around 19.

Analysts said investor sentiment remained cautious as technical indicators continued to signal weakness in the market.

According to market experts, the Nifty formed a bearish candle pattern on the daily chart, suggesting selling pressure at higher levels amid ongoing consolidation.

They noted that the index remained below important Fibonacci retracement levels tied to both the April rally and the broader February-to-April correction, indicating a continuing bearish bias.

Global market weakness also weighed on domestic equities. Asian markets extended losses for a fourth consecutive session, with Japan’s Nikkei, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s KOSPI all trading lower.

Overnight, Wall Street ended in the red, with the S&P 500 falling 0.67 per cent and the Nasdaq declining 0.87 per cent.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices eased slightly, although concerns over geopolitical tensions continued to keep energy markets volatile. Brent crude traded 0.77 per cent lower at USD 110.42 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude slipped around 1 per cent to USD 103.12 per barrel.

With IANS inputs