Sensex, Nifty open lower over weak global cues

Mumbai, Jan 8 : The Indian benchmark indices posted mild losses on Thursday amid profit booking, rising geopolitical tensions and muted sentiment from the Asian markets.

As of 9.23 am, Sensex slipped 108 points, or 0.13 per cent to 84,852 and Nifty eased 46 points, or 0.18 per cent to 26,094.

Main broad-cap indices performed almost in line with benchmark indices, with the Nifty Midcap 100 down 0.32 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 lost 0.14 per cent.

Bharat Electronics and SBI Life Insurance were among the major gainers in the Nifty pack. Except Nifty realty and consumer durables, all sectoral indices were trading in red. Nifty metal led the losses, slipping 1.27 per cent.

Immediate support lies at 26,000–26,050 zone, and resistance placed at 26,250–26,300 zone, market watchers said.

Despite the short-term softness, the broader positional trend remains bullish, supported by a pattern of higher tops and higher bottoms on the daily charts, analysts said.

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed in morning session tracking Wall Street losses amid comments from US President Donald Trump fuelling geopolitical tensions.

In Asian markets, China's Shanghai index added 0.09 per cent, and Shenzhen lost 0.2 per cent, Japan's Nikkei declined 0.96 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 1.26 per cent. South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.64 per cent.

The US markets were mostly in the red zone overnight even as Nasdaq added 0.16 per cent. The S&P 500 dipped 0.34 per cent, and the Dow moved down 0.94 per cent.

ADP's December employment data showed 41,000 jobs added, slightly missing expectations. Economists had expected private-sector employment to increase by 47,000 jobs, compared with the 32,000-job loss originally reported for the previous month.

On January 5, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold net equities worth Rs 1,528 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 2,889 crore.