Indian stocks mirrored overnight losses in US markets after Nvidia posted its biggest one-day loss. At the opening, the Sensex began trading at 82,034.36, down 0.63% or 521.08 points, while the Nifty was trading down 0.7% or 177.35 points at 25,102.5 levels.
Sector-wise, all indices moved lower, with the biggest decline being seen in IT, Metals and Public Sector Banks, each down more than 1%.
Among the Nifty stocks, the top gainers were stocks like BPCL, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, while the laggards were ONGC, Hindalco, LTIMindtree, Wipro and JSW Steel.
On the positive side, WTI oil prices fell below $71 per barrel, an eight-month low, and FIIs bought Rs. 1,029 crore worth of shares yesterday.
Investors are keeping an eye on the upcoming US jobs report, which could end the Nifty’s 14-day winning streak.
Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President (Research) at Mehta Equities, said: “Markets are sending mixed signals on Wednesday morning. Wall Street traded with a negative bias on renewed recession fears following weak US manufacturing data.”
Oil marketing company stocks will gain visibility as crude oil prices have fallen sharply, which bodes well for these companies.
Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said, “There are signs that the US manufacturing sector is entering contraction, which threatens the expectation of a soft landing, which has been the pillar of support for the US mother market and, consequently, other markets as well.”
Meanwhile, Asian markets also saw sharp declines, with Japan’s Nikkei index falling more than 3% as concerns over US growth reverberated across markets.
