Opening Bell: Markets open lower due to weak global cues; Metals, IT, Auto and Pharma lose up to 1%

On Monday, domestic equity market benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 opened lower on the back of weak global cues.

Asian markets were trading negative in the early Monday trade while financial markets in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand are closed on Monday for public holidays. US markets ended lower in the previous trading session due to losses across technology stocks and lowered sentiments due to the quarterly results.

At the open, Sensex was down 483.39 points or 0.85% at 56577.48, and the Nifty was down 144.70 points or 0.85% at 16957.80. About 786 shares have advanced, 1425 shares declined, and 118 shares are unchanged. India VIX jumped 7.29% trading at 20.83 in the initial hour of the trading session.

Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, ONGC and Bajaj Finance were among the major losers on the Nifty, while gainers were IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Motors and Power Grid Corp. On Sensex, there were only three leading stocks which were IndusInd Bank, NTPC and Axis Bank while the top losers were Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Infosys and Bajaj Finserv.

In the broader markets, at 9.45 am BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap indices traded in red, down 0.67% and 0.92%, respectively. In the BSE Midcap index, the top gaining stocks were Crisil India, Varun Beverages, Bajaj Holding, Yes Bank and Gujarat Gas whereas, in BSE Smallcap index, Future Consumer, GHCL, Tata Chemicals, Canfin Homes and Gokul Agro Resources were the top gainers.

On the sectoral front, indices were trading in the red with Consumer Durables declining more than 2% whereas Healthcare, IT, Auto, Capital Goods and Metal Index lost more than 1%. The top consumer durables stocks dragging the index were Dixon Technologies, Vaibhav Global, Titan Company, Havells India and Voltas. IT Index was dragged by Mindtree, L&T Technology Services, L&T Infotech, Coforge and Wipro.