First Trade: BSE Sensex down over 400 points; Nifty trades below 16950 – Metal stocks crack most

First Trade: Indian markets opened lower on Monday, tracking weak global signals as both benchmarks – BSE Sensex and Nifty50 – fell more than 0.5 per cent, dragged down by IT, metals and autos.

The BSE Sensex fell by 432.44 points, or 0.75 percent, to 57,557.46, while the Nifty50 index fell by 118.65 points, or 0.69 percent, at 16,981.40 minutes after the Indian markets opened today.

The 12-share Nifty Bank Index fell nearly 1 percent to 39,256.55 in Monday’s early morning session. Even the broader markets – Nifty Mid and Smallcap – followed the set of benchmarks to start today’s session in the red, down 0.5-1 per cent.

Of the 50 stocks on the Nifty Index, only five were in the green, while the remaining 45 were in the red in today’s early morning session. Pharma shares Dr Reddy and Divis Lab were among the top gainers along with BPCL, Titan and HUL, while Adani Ent, Apollo Hospital and JSW Steel were among the top gainers.

At the sectoral level, the majority of indicators were in the red zone. In this, Nifty Metal made the most notches, up more than 1.5 percent, followed by Nifty Auto and IT each up 1 percent on Monday.

According to Choice Broking Research Analyst, Deven Mehata, “Benchmarks formed by the Dragonfly Doji pattern indicate indecision among traders. The US Federal Reserve’s results due later this week will be the focus of everyone’s attention.”

Metals stocks could be in focus after China’s central bank cut the CRR rate by 25 basis points to spur economic growth, said research analyst at Choice Broking, a local brokerage.

Earlier last week, the Indian markets came back in the second half. Total volumes last week remained below average and volatility rose.

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