Markets begin New Year on sombre note

Benchmark indices open flat on selling in auto, PSU bank, financial service, pharma shares

Mumbai: The domestic benchmark indices opened flat on Wednesday as selling was seen in auto, PSU bank, financial service, pharma and metal sectors on Nifty.

Sensex declined 171.81 points to 77,967.20 even after a positive beginning to the trade. The NSE Nifty also dipped 46.4 points to 23,598.40 after a muted opening.

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According to market experts, the New Year began on a sombre note for the Indian equity market. “The near-term trend appears weak with the macro construct dominated by weak GDP and earnings growth,” they added.

Nifty Bank was down 46.65 points or 0.09 per cent at 50,813.55. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 57,270.40 after rising 70.95 points or 0.12 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,831.55 after rising 62.35 points or 0.33 per cent.

On the sectoral front, buying was seen in the IT, FMCG, Media and Energy sectors on Nifty.

In the Sensex pack, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, SBI, Nestle India, Tata Motors, M&M and Maruti Suzuki were among the top losers. Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and UltraTech Cement were among the top gainers.

The BSE benchmark Sensex declined 109.12 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 78,139.01 on Tuesday. The Nifty dipped marginally by 0.10 points to settle at 23,644.80. In the entire 2024, the Sensex jumped 5,898.75 points or 8.16 per cent, and the Nifty surged 1,913.4 points or 8.80 per cent.

World Market

The Dow Jones declined 0.07 per cent to close at 42,544.22. The S&P 500 declined 0.43 per cent to 5,881.60 and the Nasdaq declined 0.90 per cent to close at 19,310.79 in the previous trading session.

In the Asian markets, Jakarta and Hong Kong were trading in the green, while China, Bangkok, Seoul and Japan were trading in the red. The headwinds from a strong dollar (dollar index is at 108.5 per cent) and high US bond yields will impact the market through more FII selling, at least in the early days of 2025. “Even though FII selling is matched by DII buying, in this tug of war, in the near-term, sentiments are on the side of FIIs since valuations continue to be elevated,” said experts.

Investors should be cautious and watch for potentially market-moving macro data, said experts. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 4,645.22 crore on December 31, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 4,546.73 crore on the same day.