Sensex, Nifty open lower amid weak global cues

Mumbai, Dec 18 Indian stock markets opened on a weak note on Thursday, extending their losing streak to a fourth straight session, as negative cues from Asian markets weighed on investor sentiment.

Traders are also cautious ahead of the weekly expiry of Sensex derivatives, which is adding to intra-day volatility.

At around 9:23 a.m., the 30-share Sensex was trading at 84,434.8, down 124.77 points or 0.15 per cent. The Nifty slipped 22.15 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 25,789.75.

"Immediate resistance is placed at 25,950–26,000, and a decisive breakout above this zone could open the path toward 26,100. On the downside, key support levels are seen at 25,650 and 25,700 in the near term," experts stated.

Heavyweight stocks such as Sun Pharma, TVS Motor, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Steel and Bharat Electronics were among the top losers, falling up to 2 per cent.

On the other hand, IT and select banking stocks provided some support to the market, with Infosys, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, TCS, SBI and ITC trading in the green.

On the sectoral front, auto, pharma and realty stocks were under pressure, with the Nifty Auto, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Realty indices declining by up to 1 per cent.

In contrast, the Nifty IT index rose nearly 0.9 per cent, while the PSU Bank index gained about 0.25 per cent.

The broader markets also saw mild selling pressure, with the Nifty Midcap index slipping 0.10 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap index down 0.2 per cent.

Globally, investors are closely watching key economic events scheduled for the day.

Market participants are awaiting interest rate decisions from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank, along with inflation and jobless claims data from the United States.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan has started its two-day policy meeting and is widely expected to raise interest rates to 0.75 per cent on Friday.

In terms of institutional activity, foreign institutional investors remained net buyers, purchasing shares worth Rs 1,449.22 crore on Wednesday.

Domestic institutional investors also bought equities worth Rs 587.16 crore during the session.

Oil prices moved higher in early trade on Thursday. Brent crude rose 1.29 per cent to $59.68 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.64 per cent to trade at $56.86 per barrel, adding another factor for investors to track during the day.

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