Market Opening Bell: Indices see sharp fall; SENSEX down over 700 points, NIFTY50 holds 24,700 mark

The Indian stock market opened flat on Tuesday, May 13, as both the equity benchmark indices slipped into negative.

The market investors remained jittery following the ongoing geopolitical tension between India and Pakistan. Analysts are also eyeing consumer price index (CPI) data to be released later today.

The broader market, however, opened with gains. In the opening session, the Nifty Midcap 100 index opened 0.22% higher, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 gauge was also up 0.42%.

Among sectors, Nifty IT (-1.02%) and Nifty FMCG (-0.45%) fell the most, while the Nifty Pharma index advanced by 2.06%.

On the global front, Asian shares advanced on Tuesday after China and the United States announced a 90-day truce in their trade war, but the gains were tempered by uncertainties over the longer term.

The United States and China said in a joint statement that the US will cut tariffs on Chinese goods to 30% from as high as 145%. China, meanwhile, said its tariffs on US goods will fall to 10% from 125%.

The 90-day pause gives time for more talks following the weekend's negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, which the US side said yielded “substantial progress”.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.8% to 38,326.37, while South Korea’s Kospi in South Korea rose 0.2% to 2,612.30. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.7% to 23,374.06 on heavy selling of technology shares. The Shanghai Composite Index edged 0.2% higher to 3,374.93, and Taiwan's Taiex jumped 1.9%.

The US markets rallied the most in three years on Monday after the US-China trade deal. Experts believe it also reduced the probability of recession to some extent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,160.72 points, or 2.81%, to 42,410.10 for its highest close since March 26. The S&P 500 jumped 184.28 points, or 3.26%, to finish at 5,844.19, its highest close since March 3, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 779.43 points, or 4.35%, to 18,708.34 for its highest finish since February 28.

As many as 2,414 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which only 1,437 stocks were trading in the green, 922 declined and 55 shares remained unchanged.

This indicated that the market breadth favoured positives.

As many as 28 stocks hit their one-year high in the early trade, while 5 stocks touched their 52-week low.

Further, 91 stocks hit their upper circuits while only 13 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading 0.96% higher at 18.57 levels.

As many as 40 stocks declined on the NIFTY50 index, and only 10 were trading in the green during the opening session.

Infosys (-2.67%), Hindalco (-2.39%), Eternal (-2.35%), Power Grid (-2.12%) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (-1.77%) were the top laggards on the 50-share index.

Dr.Reddy’s, Bharat Electronics, Sun Pharma, Cipla and IndusInd Bank were the gaining stocks on the index, rising as much as 2.79%.