Sensex down 138 pts, Nifty at 24,800; Tata Steel leads, Eicher Motors falls

The Indian equity markets opened on a negative note after tracking mixed global cues today. The BSE Sensex declined 138.49 points or 0.17% at 80,844.82, and the Nifty was down 34 points or 0.14% at 24,802.

Today’s weak beginnings come despite market expectations of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy announcement on Wednesday to boost investor sentiment. On the global front, U.S. markets rallied to fresh record highs, shrugging off the second day of the government shutdown as Democrats and Republicans remained deadlocked on the budget.

Leading the pack was Tata Steel, which soared by 3%, followed by Axis Bank, rising by 2%. Asian Paints, which has been on the decline in the week, finally rebounded by 1%. Tata Motors, which soared by 5% in the previous session on Wednesday, is maintaining its rally, rising by 1%. Tata Motors’ shares advanced as a result of the announcement of the demerger, in effective on October 1, where the passenger vehicle and the commercial vehicle businesses would split as two different listed companies.

On the other hand, Eicher Motors led the fall in the early minutes of trade, despite Royal Enfield recording festive highs in sales and positive growth in commercial vehicles sales, slipping over 1.6%. Max Health and Eternal declined by 1.43% and 1.11% respectively.

All sectoral indices remained flat, with only Nifty Metal rising by 0.9%. Nifty Auto declined, even as auto manufacturing companies posted an increase in numbers, boosted by GST reforms and festive demand. The auto index was down by 0.55%. Nifty Media also fell, after soaring high on Wednesday’s trade, declining by 0.71%. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services remained muted.

Broader markets traded mixed, reflecting the ambiguity in the benchmark indices. Nifty Midcap50 and Nifty Smallcap50 were marginally up by 0.11% and 0.17% respectively. India VIX, or the volatility index, also advanced by 1.50%, showcasing cautious investor sentiment.