Market opening: SENSEX falls 277 pts, NIFTY50 below 26,200, Nifty Oil & Gas slips nearly 2%; Trent, RIL among top losers

The Indian stock market opened in red for the second consecutive session on Tuesday, January 6, with oil and gas stocks tumbling the most. Market investors remain cautious on rising global geopolitical concerns.

The broader market was seen mixed in the early trade, with the Nifty Midcap 100 edging down marginally by 0.02% while the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 0.1%.

Dragged by Reliance Industries, Mahanagar Gas and Petronet LNG, Nifty Oil & Gas slumped 1.61%, taking the lead among sectors. Nifty Media declined 0.31%, and Nifty FMCG slipped 0.28%, while Nifty Realty and Nifty Consumer Durables also lost 0.06% each in the opening session.

On the upside, Nifty Metal led the gains, rising 1.08%, followed by Nifty PSU Bank, which advanced 0.6%. Nifty Pharma added 0.37%, while Nifty Private Bank and Nifty IT edged up 0.29% each.

According to exchange data, on Monday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹36.25 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹1,764.07 crore on a net basis.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher on Tuesday, taking cues from the strong closing of US markets overnight.

Japan's Nikkei was trading up 0.84%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 1.14%, South Korea's KOSPI gained 0.18%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was seen 1.99% higher.

On Wall Street, the main indices ended higher on Monday, with oil companies leading the gains after a US military strike captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Investors bet Washington's move against Venezuela's leadership would allow US firms access to the world's largest oil reserves.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.23%, the S&P 500 jumped 0.64%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.69%.

As many as 2,696 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which only 1,142 advanced, 1,450 declined, and 104 shares remained unchanged.

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

Meanwhile, 72 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 33 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 25 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 23 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 10.22 levels, rising 1.94%.

As many as 14 stocks declined, while 36 advanced in the opening session on the NIFTY50 index.

Trent was the biggest laggard, declining 7.41%, followed by Reliance Industries (-3.67%), Tata Motors PV (-2.67%), HDFC Bank (-1.56%) and Eternal (-1.53%).

On the flip side, Hindalco Industries (2.57%), HDFC Life Insurance (2.19%), Apollo Hospitals (2.12%), ICICI Bank (1.66%) and Bajaj Auto (1.55%) were the top gainers on the 50-share index.