Sensex, Nifty off to tepid start as volatility keeps investors on sidelines

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Indian shares opened flat on Thursday following a mostly uneventful close in the previous session, as market sentiment remained subdued amid increasing volatility and selling pressure from foreign investors.
The BSE Sensex was trading 41 points or 0.06% lower at 73,429. Nifty50 was trading at 22,295, down 8 points or 0.03% at around 9.20 am.

Selling pressure from foreign investors, coupled with uncertainty around the country's ongoing elections have kept investors jittery, with the volatility index scaling a 15-month-high for the third straight session as of Wednesday.

Among Sensex stocks, L&T, Tech Mahindra, TCS, NTPC, ITC, and JSW Steel were opened in the red, while M&M, Maruti, Tata Motors, SBI, and HCL Tech opened with gains.

L&T dropped nearly 5% in early trading due to lower margins in the core E&C segment and reduced revenues from its subsidiaries in Q4 results.

Bank of Baroda surged over 3% after the lender said the RBI has lifted restrictions on adding customers to its mobile application.

Sectorally, Nifty Auto surged 1.6%, driven by gains in TVS Motor, Hero MotoCorp, and Bajaj Auto. Nifty PSU Bank, Realty, and Consumer Durables also started on a positive note, whereas Nifty FMCG, IT, Media, and Pharma saw declines.

On the domestic front, investors are awaiting results from Nifty constituents State Bank of India and Asian Paints.

More to come...