Opening Bell: Sensex Drops Nearly 200 Points; Nifty Tests 12,300

Equity benchmark Sensex dropped nearly 200 points in opening session on Wednesday as global investor sentiment dampened after the US said its initial trade deal with China does not include tariff rollback. The 30-share BSE index was trading 190.81 points or 0.45 per cent lower at 41,761.82. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty fell 53.15 points or 0.43 per cent to 12,309.15.

IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, SBI, Infosys, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank were the among the top losers in the Sensex pack, shedding up to 3 per cent.

On the other hand, Titan, Hero MotoCorp, Tech Mahindra, Nestle and Sun Pharma rose up to 1.30 per cent.

In the previous session, Sensex settled 92.94 points or 0.22 per cent higher at 41,952.63 - its all-time closing high. Likewise, Nifty ended 32.75 points, or 0.27 per cent, higher at 12,362.30, which was a record closing level.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 205.56 crore, and domestic institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 642.47 crore on Tuesday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

What traders say

According to traders, indices retreated for record highs after US officials on Tuesday said the trade truce with China, set to be signed on Wednesday, does not include a deal to roll back tariffs imposed on most Chinese goods.

The joint statement from the Treasury and the US Trade Representative’s office said “there is no agreement for future reduction in tariffs. Any rumours to the contrary are categorically false.”

Bourses in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul were trading on a negative note in their early sessions.

Benchmarks on Wall Street too ended in the red on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark, Brent crude futures, fell 0.23 per cent to USD 64.34 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 8 paise to 70.96 against the US dollar in morning session.