Opening Bell: Sensex falls over 200 points, Nifty below 14,750 amid weak global cues; metals decline

Updated : March 24, 2021 09:34 AM IST

Smallcap index traded lower, while midcap index was in the green.

The Indian equity indices opened lower on Wednesday dragged by selling in metals, private banks and IT stocks amid weak global cues.

At 9:15 am, the Sensex opened 0.53 percent, or 264.97 points lower at 49,786.47, while the Nifty50 index opened at 14,712.45, down 102.30 points, or 0.69 percent.

Smallcap index traded lower, while midcap index was in the green.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Metal, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Realty, Nifty IT and Nifty Auto declined the most, while gains were witnessed in PSU Bank, pharma and FMCG indices in the early morning session.

ONGC, Tata Steel, SBI, ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank were the top losers on the Nifty50 index, while Adani Ports & SEZ, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, Divi's Laboratories and PowerGrid Corporation were the top gainers,

Shares of Adani Green Energy gained over 1 percent after the company announced the acquisition of 74.94 MW solar projects from Sterling & Wilson at Rs 446 crore.

Globally, Asian shares hit a two-week low on Wednesday, oil weakened further and the dollar neared four-month highs as coronavirus lockdowns in Europe and potential US tax hikes hit risk appetite, leading to a flight to safety, a Reuters report said.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan was off 1 percent after falling 0.9 percent on Tuesday. It went as low as 676.46 points, a level last seen on March 9.

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Published : March 24, 2021 09:34 AM IST