The Indian markets remained heavily volatile on Wednesday morning. The BSE Sensex opened the session near 85,400, crashing more than 100 points, while the NSE Nifty50 started trading below 26,150, dipping over 30 points.
Notably, in the pre-open session around 9:10 AM, the Sensex touched 85,533, and the Nifty hovered near 26,170.
Both benchmarks ended Tuesday’s session largely flat after a choppy day of trade, as investors booked profits in IT and pharmaceutical stocks amid mixed global cues. Snapping a two-session winning streak, the Sensex slipped 42.64 points to close at 85,524.84. The broader Nifty managed to eke out marginal gains, ending 4.75 points higher at 26,177.15.
Overall, domestic equities traded in a tight range and finished almost unchanged, weighed down by mixed global signals. While selling pressure persisted across most sectors, financials and FMCG stocks helped cushion the downside. Looking ahead, market participants are positioning themselves ahead of the upcoming earnings season and closely tracking developments around US Federal Reserve policy, as expectations of a rate cut at the January meeting are gradually strengthening, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Limited.
Markets remained subdued on the weekly derivatives expiry, pausing after the recent rebound, said Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President – Research at Religare Broking Ltd. Echoing a similar view, Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, said equities closed flat due to broad-based profit-taking at elevated levels in the absence of fresh positive triggers.