Indian stock markets opened marginally lower on Wednesday ahead of Union Budget 2018 with Sensex slipping below 36,000-level and Nifty trading in the red. Investors sentiments got a slight jolt as US stock markets dropped for the second consecutive day with benchmark index Dow Jones posting its biggest decline since May 2017. Shares of blue-chip companies such as ICICI Bank, L&T, NTPC and Vedanta will be in a close watch ahead of their respective Q3 earnings due later today. A contrary trade was observed in the heavyweight stocks of companies such as ICICI Bank, Infosys, TCS, HUL, ITC and Reliance Industries, SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hero MotoCorp. Among the broader market indices, Nifty Next 50, Nifty 100, Nifty 200, Nifty 500, Nifty Midcap 50, Nifty Mid100 Free and Nifty Sml100 Free losing up to 0.3% while India Vix shed 3.54%. The S&P BSE Sensex lost 82.09 points or 0.23% to open at 35,951.64 while NSE Nifty fell 30.85 points or 0.28% to began at 11,018.8.

Major movers today

Shares of ICICI Bank fell 1.39% to the day’s low of Rs 347.7 as the banker is scheduled to announce its third-quarter earnings. The stocks of ICICI Bank, TCS, HUL, Infosys, ITC, Coal India contributed the most in the Sensex decline. Collectively these six shares washed off as much as 88 points. Among the ‘A’ group of BSE, shares of TV18 Broadcast, Jai Corp, Network 18, Videocon Industries and Radico Khaitan jumped 4-8% while, on the other hand, shares of Vakrangee, Havells, Avanti, BEL and TVS Motors plunged 3-5%. Shares of Hero MotoCorp, RIL, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, SBI, Adani Ports, and Bharti Airtel emerged as the notable gainers among Sensex whereas Coal India, Dr Reddy’s HUL, ICICI Bank, TCS, Power Grid, and Wipro slumped up to 2%.

Q3 results today

Other major companies which are also lined up with their third-quarter report cards are Arvind, Dabur India, Equitas Holdings, Coromandel International, HEG, HCC, IDBI Bank, JK Lakshmi Cement, JSW Steel, PVR, Reliance Infrastructure, Shoppers Stop, Escorts, Exide Industries, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Kajaria Ceramics, Karur Vysya Bank, Narayana Hrudayalaya and VRL Logistics.

Slump in US market

Meanwhile, US stock markets fell for a second straight day on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average registering its biggest two-day drop since September 2016, pressured by healthcare stocks and rising bond yields, Reuters said in a report. The benchmark Dow Jones index also had its biggest daily percentage decline since May 2017 and the day’s 1.37-percent fall was the second-biggest single-day drop since the election of Donald Trump, Reuters added. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 362.59 points or 1.37% to 26,076.89, the S&P 500 lost 31.1 points or 1.09% to 2,822.43 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 64.02 points or 0.86% to 7,402.48.

Indian stock markets on Tuesday

Earlier yesterday, India’s stock markets ended on a negative note with Sensex falling nearly 250 points, Nifty slipping below 11,100, all sectoral indices ending in red while shares of OMCs (Oil Marketing Companies) shone, on the other hand, bankers plunged. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex lost as much as 249.52 points or 0.69% to finish at 36,033.73 and the wider share indicator Nifty shed 80.75 points or 0.73% to conclude at 11,049.65 on Tuesday. All the sectoral indices of National Stock Exchange ended in red with Nifty Bank, Nifty Fin Service, Nifty IT, Nifty Media, Nifty Pvt Bank and Nifty Realty falling 0.8-1.1%. Shares of oil marketing companies such as Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation rose 2-5% whereas shares of heavyweight banks companies such Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank lost 0.2-3% in Tuesday’s trade.