Sensex, Nifty volatile; coronavirus fears to Union Budget, 5 things keeping stock markets on edge today

Domestic equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened lower on Thursday tracking weakness in Asian markets as the death toll from coronavirus rose. Markets are likely to remain volatile ahead of the expiry of the January series of Futures & Options (F&O) contracts due today. The investors are also awaiting the presentation of the Economic Survey and Union Budget. “The Union Budget which is scheduled on Saturday i.e. Feb 1 is one everyone’s radar. In short, traders should prepare themselves for a roller-coaster ride. We advise focusing more on risk management aspects in such a scenario and preferring stocks that are trading in tandem with the benchmark,” Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd said. At 10 AM, S&P BSE Sensex was trading 165 point or 0.40 per cent lower at 41,033.22, while broader Nifty 50 index was ruling at 12,081.40, down 48 points or 0.40 per cent.

On the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries and Sun Pharma were among top laggards. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, NTPC were top gainers on the index.

Except for Nifty Auto index, all the sectoral indices were trading in the red. Nifty Bank index was trading over half a percent lower dragged by IDFC First Bank, Yes Bank, RBL Bank and Bank of Baroda. The Nifty FMCG index was also half a per cent down weighed by Marico, Nestle Industries and ITC. In the broader markets, the S&P BSE MidCap index was trading 68 points or 0.43 points down at 15,686.94 while S&P BSE SmallCap index was ruling at 14,775, down 65 points or 0.44 per cent.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Federal Reserve held the interest rates steady at its first policy meeting of the calendar year. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index added 11.6 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 28,734.45, the S&P500 index declined 2.84 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 3,273.4 and the Nasdaq Composite added 5.48 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 9,275.16.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 1,014. 27 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1, 520.90 crore on Wednesday, as per the data available with NSE.