SENSEX slides over 700 points, NIFTY50 opens at 22,838, amid mixed global cues; IndiGo, Max Health down 2%

At the opening bell of 9:15 am, the NIFTY50 index dropped 0.56% or around 129 points on Tuesday to open at 22,838.70 points, compared to the previous stock market close at 22,968.25 points, according to NSE data.

The BSE SENSEX lost more than 700 points or 1% to drop to 73,366.60 points in the early market hours on Tuesday after opening lower. SENSEX opened 0.50% or 372 points lower at 73,734.36 points on April 7, compared to their previous market close level of 74,106.85 points, as per the exchange data.

After the opening bell, both the benchmark indices extended their losses further dropping nearly 1% in the early market hours on April 7.

As of 9:34 am, NIFTY50 was trading 0.48% lower at 22,858 points, while the BSE SENSEX was down 0.56% to 73,681 points, according to the official data.

What factors are fuelling Indian stock market today?

The morning markets hours on NSE and BSE witnessed a weak startoff to Tuesday’s trading session on the backdrop of no signs of a potential ceasefire deal between the United States and Iran, a stonger US dollar, weekly derivatives expiry, and mixed global cues on April 7.

The Bloomberg US dollar spot index data showed that the US greenback was trading 0.10% higher at 100.076 as of 11:50 pm (EDT) on April 6, compared to the previous market close level of 99.9810.

The stronger dollar demand in the market due to the lack of a potential ceasefire deal and Trump’s recent threat to Iran on further military strikes was also fuelling the cues for the stock market investors in India.

US President Donald Trump has given a Tuesday evening 8 pm (EDT) deadline to Iran to open Strait of Hormuz to avoid further strikes from the Western nation as the conflict entered its sixth week.

This comes amid the ongoing talks between Iran and US for a ceasefire proposal. Reports suggest that Trump said, “They have made and they're negotiating now, and they've made a very significant step. We'll see what happens.”

Top gainers today

Stocks like Hindalco, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, ONGC, Trent, Sun Pharma, TCS, HCL Tech, ITC, Bharti AIrtel, NTPC, Infosys, and Bajaj Finserv were the gainers on NIFTY50 as of the early trading hours.

Hindalco was up 3.25%, Wipro up 2.25%, Bajaj Finance up 1.03%, Tech Mahindra up 0.58%, ONGC up 0.83%, Trent up 0.65%, Sun Pharma up 0.57%, TCS up 0.04%, HCL Tech up 0.20%, ITC up 0.29%, Bharti Airtel up 0.24%, NTPC up 0.46%, Infosys up 0.20%, and Bajaj Finserv up 0.54%.

Top losers today

Among the top losers were, Max Health, IndiGo, Eicher Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Eternal, Axis Bank, SBI Life, Ultratech Cement, Dr. Reddy, and Hindustan Unilever.

Max Health down 2.57%, IndiGo down 2.33%, Eicher Motors down 1.69%, Mahindra & Mahindra down 1.66%, Eternal down 1.74%, Axis Bank down 1.49%, SBI Life down 1.44%, Ultratech Cement down 1.33%, Dr. Reddy down 1.27%, and Hindustan Unilever down 1.17%.

Out of the 50 stocks listed under NIFTY50 index, around 14 were trading in the green zone, while 36 were trading in the red as of 9:40 am on Tuesday.

Mid-cap stocks today

Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading 1.01% lower at 53,941.60 points as of 9:51 am on Tuesday, compared to 54,492.65 points at the previous market close, according to NSE data.

Stocks like Premier Energies up 2.51%, Prestige Estates up 1.88%, Oracle Financial Services Software up 1.22%, Oberoi Realty up 1.26%, Mphasis up 1.1%, Persistent up 0.88%, National Aluminium Co. up 0.81%, and Oil India up 0.58% were among the top gainers as of the early trading hours.

While stocks like Jubilant Foodworks down 7.1%, Bharat Forge down 3.4%, Bank of India down 3%, APL Apollo Tubes down 2.7%, HeroMotoCorp down 2.4%, Radico Khaitan down 2.4% were among the top laggards on the mid-cap index.

Nifty Smallcap 100 index was trading 0.26% lower at 15,811.60 points as of 9:58 am on April 7, compared to 15,853.05 points at the previous stock market close, according to NSE data.

Stocks like Firstcry up 11%, Creditaccess Grameen up 5.7%, Poonawalla Fincorp up 3.6%, Five Star up 2.6%, Delhivery up 2.3%, Signature up 2.4%, FSL up 1.6%, and Wock Pharma up 2.11% were among the top gainers on Tuesday.

While others like KFintech down 3%, Force Motors down 3%, PGEL down 2.5%, Great Eastern Shipping Company down 2.3%, RBL Bank down 2.2%, IIFL down 2.2%, and Bandhan Bank down 2.2% were among the laggards.