Sensex Slips Nearly 100 Points, Nifty Trades Below 17,450

The Indian equity benchmarks traded lower in opening deals on Friday amid weak cues from the global markets. Asian shares fell today following the biggest quarterly drop in global equities in two years, as investors worried about the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war and rising risks of a recession.

Trends on the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange (SGX Nifty) also indicated a gap down start for the domestic indices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 87 points or 0.15 per cent to 58,481 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 28 points or 0.16 per cent up to 17,437.

However, mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a positive note as Nifty Midcap 100 moved 0.20 up and small-cap shares rose 0.34 per cent.

Three out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the red. Nifty IT and Nifty Auto were underperforming the index by falling as much as 0.40 per cent and 0.13 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, SBI Life was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 2.29 per cent to Rs 1,095.75. HDFC, ICICI Bank, Hindalco and IndusInd Bank were also among the losers.

The overall market breadth stood strong as 1,820 shares were advancing while 618 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, Infosys, HCL Tech, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra and Titan were among the top laggards.

In contrast, NTPC, PowerGrid, Tata Steel, M&M, HDFC Bank and Bajaj Finance were trading in the green.

Sensex had slipped 115 points or 0.20 per cent to close at 58,569 on Thursday, while Nifty had moved 34 points or 0.19 per cent lower to settle at 17,465.