First Trade: Sensex falls 787 pts, Nifty below 24,900; M&M, NTPC drags

The Indian equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, opened in negative territory on Tuesday, due to weak cues from the global markets. Furthermore, selling pressure in heavyweight IT and auto stocks brought the market down, which wiped away most of Monday's gains. The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 138.25 points at 82,038.20, and the NSE Nifty 50 fell 44.50 points, starting at 24,956.65. The previous session ended saw both indices at record highs, the Sensex was at 82,176.45 and the Nifty was at 25,001.15.

Small- and mid-cap indices also continuing under pressure

Broader market indices continued to experience weakness, so the BSE Midcap and Smallcap index both opened in the red, indicating profit booking across the segments. A weak view in global equities and lack of new domestic triggers to garner momentum during trading weighed on investor sentiment.

Only 2 Sensex stocks in the green

Out of the 30 stocks in the Sensex pack, there were only 2 that opened in the green. IndusInd Bank and State Bank of India were the only green stocks when the market opened. IndusInd Bank was the top gainer from the pack, and it increased over 0.56 per cent during opening trade. On the other hand, top laggards were NTPC, HCL Technologies, Mahindra & Mahindra, and TCS, where NTPC fell the most at over 1.09 per cent.

Gift Nifty hints at a weak start

Gift Nifty, a commonly used barometer of domestic market sentiment, also appears - at the very least - somewhat weak. It opened lower at 25,027.50 compared to the previous close of 25,049.50. Thus suggesting a slow start to the trading day.

Asian markets struggle lower with US markets shut

Asian equities struggled higher on Tuesday, as US markets were shut for Memorial Day, leaving no cues from Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 71.83 points further to 37,459.70. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.22% and South Korea's KOSPI was down 0.50 per cent. Meanwhile, in China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.33 per cent to 3,335.76.

Sectoral indicies weaker; IT, auto lead fall

All major Nifty sectoral indices were trading in the red. The Nifty IT index was down 0.64 per cent, followed by the Nifty Auto (down 0.47 per cent). The Nifty FMCG index was down 0.26 per cent, and the Nifty Metal index lost 0.12 per cent, all indications of broad-based selling activity across the indices.