Dalal Street bulls take a breather; Sensex slips 250+ pts, Nifty slides below 26,650 mark

Stock Market Today: Indian equity benchmarks opened lower on Wednesday, January 14, tracking cautious global cues and early selling pressure in frontline stocks.

The BSE Sensex opened at 83,358.54, down 269.15 points, or 0.32 per cent, compared with its previous close of 83,627.69. The index slipped further in early trade, with losses seen across select heavyweights.

The Nifty 50 also started on a weak note. It opened at 25,648.55 and was trading lower by 83.75 points, or 0.33 per cent, from its previous close of 25,732.30.

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Indian equities traded with a cautious tone on Wednesday as selling pressure persisted across several frontline stocks, tracking weak global cues and continued foreign fund outflows.

On the Sensex, Asian Paints, TCS, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, HUL, HCL Tech, IndiGo, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Adani Ports and Maruti Suzuki were among the top losers in early trade. The declines weighed on the benchmark index.

On the positive side, NTPC, BEL, Tata Steel, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Trent, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Mahindra and Mahindra provided some support to the market, limiting the overall downside.

In the broader market, the Nifty MidCap index slipped 0.1 per cent, while the Nifty SmallCap index outperformed and gained 0.46 per cent, indicating selective buying in smaller stocks.

Sectorally, the Nifty Metal index led the gains, rising 0.8 per cent. The Nifty PSU Bank index also moved higher, up 0.16 per cent. On the downside, the Nifty Realty index fell 0.5 per cent, while the Nifty IT index declined 0.4 per cent.

Market participants remained cautious as Indian equities continued to face pressure from global uncertainties. Concerns around continued tariff threats from the United States and elevated geopolitical risks kept investors on the sidelines. Persistent selling by foreign portfolio investors further added to the weakness in domestic markets.

Selling pressure was visible across most NSE indices. The Nifty 100 index declined 0.29 per cent, while the Nifty Midcap 100 slipped 0.17 per cent. The Nifty Smallcap 100 showed relatively limited losses and was down 0.07 per cent.

Sectoral performance on the NSE reflected a mixed trend. The Nifty Auto index was down 0.08 per cent, while the Nifty FMCG index edged up 0.06 per cent. The Nifty IT index fell 0.29 per cent and the Nifty Media index declined 0.25 per cent. In contrast, the Nifty Metal index rose 0.25 per cent and the Nifty PSU Bank index gained 0.21 per cent.

On the fund flow front, provisional data for Tuesday showed FPIs were net sellers in the cash market, offloading shares worth Rs 1,499.81 crore. Domestic institutional investors provided some support, with net buying of Rs 1,181.78 crore.