Market opening: Indices open in green, SENSEX rises 175 points, NIFTY50 above 25,900; Shriram Finance top gainer

The Indian stock market opened higher on Wednesday, December 17, tracking positive cues from Asian markets and gains in PSU bank and metal stocks.

The broader market was trading in green in the early trade, with both the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.13% and 0.18%, respectively.

According to exchange data, on Tuesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹2,381.92 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹1,077.48 crore on a net basis.

Among sectors, Nifty PSU Bank took the lead among winners, surging 1.07%, followed by Nifty Metal (0.7%) and Nifty Oil and Gas (0.66%). However, Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.25%), Nifty FMCG (-0.07%) and Nifty Media (-0.04%) were the only losers.

Globally, stocks in Asia were trading with gains on Wednesday; however, investors remained cautious ahead of the US economy data and fiscal health in the developed world. 

Japan's Nikkei was up 0.27%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.20%, and China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.17%, while South Korea's KOSPI was trading 0.87% higher.

Wall Street’s major indices ended mixed on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq rebounding to finish higher, while the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones closed lower, as investors assessed delayed economic data for clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook for next year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.62%, and the S&P 500 declined 0.24%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.23%.

As many as 2,676 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which only 1,478 advanced, 1,112 declined, and 86 shares remained unchanged.

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

Meanwhile, 38 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 43 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 26 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 19 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 9.98 levels, falling 0.81%.

As many as 35 stocks advanced, while 15 declined in the opening session on the NIFTY50 index.

Shriram Finance was the most contributing stock, rising 2.19%, followed by Eternal (1.46%), State Bank of India (1.45%), Eicher Motors (1.3%), and Hindalco Industries (1.21%).

On the contrary, ICICI Bank (-0.99%), Max Healthcare (-0.63%), Nestle India (-0.52%), Trent (-0.48%) and HDFC Life Insurance (-0.48%) were the top losers on the 50-share index.