Sensex, Nifty off to weak start; investors await stimulus measures

NEW DELHI: Benchmark equity indices opened on a tepid note following mixed cues from global peers with investors awaiting stimulus measures to arrest economic slowdown.

The 30-share index Sensex opened 29.28 points down at 37,298.73, while the 50-pack Nifty opened 1.15 points higher at 11,018.15.

As many as 17 stocks in the Sensex pack were trading in the red in early trade with YES Bank, Tata Motors, Vedanta, Tata Steel, HCL Technologies and Asian Paints falling between 0.70 per cent and 3.50 per cent.


On the other hand, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Sun Pharma were up between 0.50 per cent and 1 per cent.

Sectorwise, BSE Realty and Metal index were down over 1 per cent in early trade, while IT, Teck and Auto indices were up between 0.10 per cent and 0.50 per cent.


Ajit Mishra, Vice President, Research, Religare Broking said, “Investors are pinning hopes on any stimulus measures from the government to lift the sentiments. However, we continue to remain cautious on the markets in the near-term. We recommend that investors should utilise the market correction to accumulate fundamentally strong stocks trading at attractive valuations.”

In a scrip specific development, CG Power plunged 20 per cent for the second straight session after the company on Tuesday said an investigation by its board found major governance and financial lapses, including advances to related and unrelated parties as well as liabilities of the company and the group potentially being understated by hundreds of crores of rupees.

Shares of Oberoi Realty slipped 4 per cent after reports that the income tax department carried out searches at the group and its biggest vendor, Capacit’e Infraprojects, over transactions the authorities considered suspicious. Capacit’e Infraprojects was down nearly 15 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of India will release the minutes of its monetary policy meeting later in the day. Earlier, the central bank had lowered the repo rate by 35 basis points to 5.40 per cent during its August meeting.

The US markets ended in the red on Tuesday as investors weighed up the prospect of fiscal stimulus from some of the world’s biggest economies. Asian markets were trading mixed today as fresh worries about a global recession led investors to dump risky assets, with US President Donald Trump showing no signs of backing down in his trade war with China.