Market opening: SENSEX slips 228 points, NIFTY50 below 25,950 on weak global cues; Tata Steel top laggard

The Indian equity market opened lower on Tuesday, November 18, snapping its six-day winning streak amid weak global cues and declines in metal and realty stocks.

However, investors remain optimistic after a government official indicated that the first phase of the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) is nearing completion and is expected to address the steep 50% tariffs imposed on Indian goods during the Trump administration.

The broader market slipped in early trade, with both the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 losing 0.21% and 0.48%, respectively.

Among sectors, except for Nifty PSU Bank (0.12%) and Nifty Media (0.1%), all the other gauges opened in red. Nifty Realty took the lead among losers, slipping 0.8%, while Nifty Metal (-0.79%) and Nifty Pharma (-0.43%) were the other top losers.

According to exchange data, on Monday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth ₹442.17 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹1,465.86 crore on a net basis.

Globally, all major Asian indices were trading lower, mirroring the decline in US markets, as investors turned cautious ahead of Nvidia Corp.’s earnings and a key US jobs report due later this week.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.38%, and South Korea's KOSPI was down 2.59%, while China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.56%, and Japan's Nikkei was also trading 2.6% lower.

The US stock market sank Monday as Nvidia and other superstars created by the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology dimmed some more.

The S&P 500 fell 0.9% and pulled further from its all-time high set late last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 557 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite sank 0.8%.

As many as 2,681 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 941 advanced, 1,643 declined, and 97 shares remained unchanged.

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

Meanwhile, 44 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 63 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 43 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 28 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 11.93 levels, gaining 0.93%.

As many as 42 stocks declined, while only 7 advanced and one remained unchanged in the opening session on the NIFTY50 index.

Tata Steel was the biggest laggard, falling 1.05%, followed by Hindalco Industries (-1.05%), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (-0.8%), Infosys (-0.77%) and Tech Mahindra (-0.76%).

On the flipside, Max Healthcare (1.75%), Bharti Airtel (0.78%), Axis Bank (0.54%), Bharat Electronics (0.54%) and Eternal (0.36%) were the top gainers on the 50-share index.