Febuary 19: Indian stock market opens lower, pharma stocks drag

Mumbai, Feb 19 (IANS) The Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Wednesday amid mixed global cues as selling was seen in the pharma and IT sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.31 am, Sensex was trading 271.06 points or 0.36 per cent down at 75,696.33 while the Nifty declined 88 points or 0.38 per cent at 22,857.30.

Nifty Bank was down 243.90 points or 0.50 per cent at 48,843.40. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 49,366.90 after declining 384.55 points or 0.77 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 15,093.70 after dropping 74.75 points or 0.49 per cent.

On the technical front, a base appears to be forming around the 22800–22700 zone, aligning with the lower boundary of a Falling Wedge pattern, according to market watchers.

“Strong support is evident at every 100-point interval, with key levels at 22600–22500, coinciding with the 127 per cent retracement of the early February rebound," said Sameet Chavan of Angel One.

"Given the recent price action, traders are advised to continue with a buy-on-dips approach," he added.

Meanwhile, in the Sensex pack, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, TCS, M&M, PowerGrid, ICICI Bank, Zomato, Infosys and Hindustan Unilever were the top losers. Whereas, NTPC, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T and SBI were the top gainers.

In the last trading session, Dow Jones gained 0.02 per cent to close at 44,556.34. The S&P 500 added 0.24 per cent to 6,129.58 and the Nasdaq climbed 0.07 per cent to close at 20,041.26.

In the Asian markets, Seoul and China were trading in the green. Whereas Bangkok, Japan, Jakarta and Hong Kong were trading in red.

On the institutional front, after being net sellers for the past nine sessions, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 4,786.56 crores on February 18. Meanwhile, Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) extended their buying streak for the 10th consecutive session, acquiring equities worth Rs 3,072.19 crores on the same day.

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