Markets slip at open: Sensex drops 200 points, Nifty sheds 30+
The stock market opened lower on Friday, March 7, as banking, financial services, and IT stocks led the decline.
At 9:15 am, the BSE Sensex dropped 176.47 points (0.24%) to 74,163.62. The NSE Nifty slipped 36.05 points (0.16%) to 22,508.65. This decline followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs on India and other nations starting April 2.
Market Opening: Key Stock Movements
Infosys led the Sensex losers, falling 1.45% to ₹1,688.40. Tech Mahindra followed, dropping 1.24% to ₹1,485. Zomato lost 1.15%, trading at ₹222.80. Only six of the 30 Sensex stocks gained.
Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Bank Index fell the most (0.34%) to 48,463.80. Financial Services dropped 0.32% to 23,089.35, while Nifty IT declined 0.31% to 38,028.15.
Previous Session Recap
Despite a weak opening on Thursday, the market rallied to close higher for the third straight session.
The BSE Sensex gained 609.86 points (0.83%) to close at 74,340.09. The Nifty rose 207.40 points (0.93%) to 22,544.70.
Senior Technical Research Analyst Kunal Kamble highlighted a bullish trend, citing a Higher High and Higher Low pattern. He projected resistance at 22,720 and a possible decline if Nifty falls below 22,440.
Top Gainers and Sector Performance
Asian Paints led Sensex gainers, jumping 4.70% to ₹2,267.10. NTPC rose 3.41% to ₹337.75, while Reliance Industries gained 2.96% to ₹1,210.55.
The Nifty Oil & Gas Index surged 2.59% to 10,045.85, followed by the Metal Index (up 2.34% to 8,888.65) and the Pharma Index (up 1.47% to 20,423.35).
Rising oil prices supported the Nifty Oil & Gas Index. Brent Crude climbed 0.36% ($0.25) to $69.71 per barrel (May contracts), while WTI Crude gained 0.32% ($0.21) to $66.57 per barrel (April contracts).
Top performers in the Nifty Oil & Gas Index included Castrol India (up 10.15%), Mahanagar Gas (up 4.19%), and HPCL (up 3.71%). In the Nifty Metal Index, Jindal Stainless gained 5.87%, Hindustan Zinc rose 3.83%, and Welspun Corp added 3.58%. In the Pharma Index, Gland Pharma climbed 3.39%, Cipla advanced 2.87%, and Torrent Pharma gained 2.49%.
Institutional Investors’ Activity
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹2,377.32 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought a net ₹1,617.80 crore.
