Market opening: SENSEX down 204 pts, NIFTY50 at 25,585 as metal stocks drag; Kwality Wall's, Hindalco Industries top losers

The Indian stock market opened lower on Tuesday, February 17, dragged down by metal and oil and gas stocks.

The broader market was seen mixed in early deals, with the Nifty Midcap 100 falling 0.19% while the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose marginally by 0.12%.

Among sectors, except for Nifty IT (0.86%), all the other sectors were trading lower in the opening session. Nifty Metal slipped 1.2%, followed by Nifty Oil & Gas (-0.61%), Nifty Realty (-0.6%), Nifty Private Bank (-0.59%), and Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.3%).

According to exchange data, on Monday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹972.13 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹1,666.98 crore on a net basis.

On the global front, Asian shares were trading on a mixed note on Tuesday amid rising geopolitical tensions after Iran conducted naval exercises near a critical shipping corridor before talks with the US resume later Tuesday, news agency Bloomberg reported.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.93%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 0.32%. Markets in China, Hong Kong and South Korea were shut on account of the holiday.

Market statistics

As many as 2,661 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,504 advanced, 1,070 declined, and 87 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth is in favour of advances.

Meanwhile, 33 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 39 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 33 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 26 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 13.22 levels, falling 0.84%.

Top gainers and losers

As many as 40 stocks declined, while 11 were trading in green in the opening session on the NIFTY50 index.

Kwality Wall's (India) was the biggest losing stock, declining 3.2%, followed by Hindalco Industries (-2.53%), Eternal (-2.11%), Shriram Finance (-1.35%) and Max Healthcare (-1.12%).

On the flip side, Asian Paints (1.76%), Bharat Electronics (1.31%), Infosys (1.26%), Tech Mahindra (0.91%), and HCL Technologies (0.77%) were the top gainers on the 50-share index.