Mumbai: Indian equity indices traded in the deep red on Thursday, following weak global cues. This was due to escalating tension in the Middle East and worries over a full-fledged war between Iran and Israel.
At 9.38 a.m., Sensex was down 589 points or 0.69 percent at 83,686, and Nifty was down 174 points or 0.68 per cent at 25,622.
Broader market trends remained weak in the early trading hour. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 256 shares were in the green, and 1,188 shares were in the red.
Twenty-eight out of 30 Sensex stocks were trading in the red.
Wipro, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Reliance, Nestle, ICICI Bank, Titan, TCS, L&T, HUL, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, HUL, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance were the top losers. Only JSW Steel and Tata Steel were in the green.
Among the sectoral indices, Auto, FMCG, realty, media, energy and pvt bank were major gainers. Only the metal index was in the green.
Mixed trading is taking place in Asian markets. Tokyo and Taipei are green, while Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul and Jakarta are red.
In the US, stock markets closed with modest gains on Wednesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose slightly by 0.08 percent, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up by 0.01 percent and 0.09 percent, respectively.
According to market experts, the situation will change if Israel attacks any oil installations in Iran, which will trigger a huge spike in crude. If this happens, it can be more damaging for oil importers like India. Therefore, investors should watch the emerging situation very closely. A partial switch in portfolios to defensives like Pharma and FMCG can also be thought of.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling by selling equities worth Rs 5,579 crore on October 1, while domestic institutional investors extended their buying by buying equities worth Rs 4,609 crore on the same day.
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–IANS
