Market opening: Indices open flat, SENSEX down 77 pts, NIFTY50 at 26,157; IndiGo shares fall 4%

The Indian equity market opened flat down on Monday, December 8, amid mixed global cues and persistent foreign fund outflows.

The broader markets also opened on a weak note, with both the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 declining 0.11% and 0.31%, respectively, in early trade.

Among sectors, Nifty Realty took the lead among losers, slumping 0.46%, followed by Nifty Pharma and PSU Bank, each losing 0.22%, Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.16%) and Nifty Auto (-0.1%).

Meanwhile, Nifty Media (0.53%), Nifty IT (0.39%), Nifty Metal (0.25%) and Nifty Oil and Gas (0.13%) were trading with gains.  

According to exchange data, on Friday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹438.90 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹4,189.17 crore on a net basis.

Globally, indices in Asia were trading mixed as caution prevailed amid deteriorating China-Japan relations and a host of central bank decisions awaited later this week.

Japan's Nikkei was trading up 0.08%, Singapore's Straits Times declined 0.32%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.93%, while South Korea's KOSPI and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.27% and 0.62%, respectively.

On Wall Street, the US stocks ended with modest gains on Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.22%, the S&P 500 advanced 0.19%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.31%. Meanwhile, economic data elevated expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this week.

As many as 2,713 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,028 advanced, 1,586 declined, and 99 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth is favourable towards declines.

Meanwhile, 30 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 142 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 43 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 34 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 10.69 levels, gaining 3.65%.

IndiGo parent firm InterGlobe Aviation was the biggest laggard, sliding 3.66%, followed by Bajaj Finance (-0.86%), Asian Paints (-0.57%), Bharat Electronics (-0.52%) and Nestle India (-0.51%).

On the other hand, Eternal (1.09%), Wipro (1.08%), HDFC Life Insurance (1.05%), Hindalco Industries (0.89%) and Tech Mahindra (0.65%) were the top gainers on the 50-share index.