Market opening: SENSEX slips 222 points, NIFTY50 at 26,141 as metal stocks decline; Hindalco top loser, VIX up 12%

The Indian equity market opened lower on Friday, November 21, weighed down by metal stocks and weak global cues.

At 9:20 AM, the S&P BSE SENSEX fell 222.28 points, or 0.26%, to the 85,410.40 level, while NSE’s NIFTY50 was at the 26,141.85 level, down 50.30 points, or 0.19%.

The broader market was trading lower in early deals, with the Nifty Midcap 100 down 0.45% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 slipping 0.38%.

All sectoral indices were in the red, led by Nifty Metal, which fell 1.04%, followed by Nifty Realty (-0.47%) and Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.45%).

According to exchange data, on Thursday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth ₹283.65 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹824.46 crore on a net basis.

On the global front, Asian shares traded lower on Thursday, mirroring the weak overnight close on the US market. Japan's Nikkei declined 2.14%, China's Shanghai Composite dropped 1.88%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.08%, and South Korea's KOSPI tumbled 3.67%.

On Wall Street, US stocks fell on Thursday after an early Nvidia-led rally faded, and mixed US jobs data added uncertainty to the labour market outlook.

After jumping as much as 1.9% early in the session—on track for its best day since May—the S&P 500 reversed sharply to close down 1.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 386 points, or 0.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 2.2%.

As many as 2,521 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 796 advanced, 1,624 declined, and 101 shares remained unchanged.

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

Meanwhile, 25 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 63 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 31 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 17 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 13.57 levels, rising 11.84%.

As many as 35 stocks declined, while 13 advanced and two remained unchanged in the opening session on the NIFTY50 index.

Hindalco Industries was the biggest laggard, slumping 2.11%, followed by Shriram Finance (-1.49%), JSW Steel (-1.03%), Tata Steel (-0.99%), and Tata Consumer Durables (-0.79%).

On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra (1.17%), TCS (0.69%), Eicher Motors (0.6%), Sun Pharma (0.39%), and NTPC (0.34%) were the top gainers on the 50-share index.