Sensex, Nifty flat in early trades; banks, FMCG, metals under pressure

Domestic benchmark equity indices opened flat with a negative bias on Thursday amid the latest Federal Reserve minutes that flagged the risk of a faster reduction in stimulus and rate hikes. In opening trades, Sensex lost 13 points or 0.02% to 58,327 whereas Nifty was quoting at 17,417 up by 2 points or 0.01%.

“In the bull vs bears fight going in the market now, fodder for bears is the sustained selling by FIIs who have sold equity worth around Rs 18000 cr during the last 6 days. This sustained selling is in sync with the view of most foreign brokerages that valuations are stretched. The strategy of ‘buy on dips’ which worked well since April 2020 is not working now. It would be better for investors to watch for consolidation in the market before making further investments,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Valuations remain high even after this correction. But pockets of fair valuation are emerging in segments like banking and IT. The leading names in these segments offer favourable risk-reward opportunities, Vijayakumar added.

Top gainers & losers

Top gainers & losers on the Sensex.

Sectoral strand

Sectoral indices on the NSE opened mixed with Nifty Media leading the pack as it advanced 0.33% followed by the Nifty Realty index rising 0.21%. While Nifty Auto and Nifty IT were flat with a positive bias in the range of 0.01-0.05%.

On the downside, Nifty Bank, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma indices lost upt0 0.52% in early trades.

Broader markets

Unlike benchmark indices broader markets opened in the green with BSE MidCap index rose 70 points or 0.28% to 25,571 whereas the BSE SmallCap index was trading at 28,701 up by 126 points or 0.44%.

Market breadth favoured the bulls as 1,656 shares advanced compared to 617 declining and 84 remained unchanged.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Thursday as investors reacted to the Bank of Korea’s rate decision.

The Bank of Korea raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to 1%, a move that was largely expected.

U.S. stocks pushed modestly higher on Wednesday as the recent jump in bond yields took a breather, allowing tech stocks to recover.

The minutes from the latest Fed meeting, released on Wednesday, showed that the central bankers were ready to accelerate the timetable for slowing asset purchases and raising the benchmark funds rate if inflation remains high.

U.S. markets will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. The stock market closes early on Friday.