Market opening: SENSEX flat, NIFTY above 26,000 ahead of RBI monetary policy; Reliance Industries top loser

The Indian stock market opened flat on Friday, December 5, tracking global cues as investors turn cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy announcement.  

The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will announce its decision on the repo rate later in the day. The experts are divided on whether the RBI will go for a rate cut.

After touching record lows for the last few sessions, the rupee on Friday rose 9 paise to 89.80 against the US dollar in early trade ahead of the RBI's monetary policy decision.

The broader market was trading lower in early deals, with the Nifty Midcap 100 marginally down 0.01% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 slipping 0.24%.

Among sectors, Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.38%), Nifty Pharma (-0.27%), and Nifty Metal and Oil & Gas (each down 0.13%) were the top losers. In contrast, rate-sensitive sectors like Nifty Realty (0.35%), Nifty Auto (0.18%), and Nifty Bank (0.11%) were trading in the green.

According to exchange data, on Thursday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹1,944.19 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹3,661.05 crore on a net basis.

Globally, Asian markets were trading mixed on Friday following a listless session on Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.43%, Singapore's Straits Times declined 0.36%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 0.30%, while China's Shanghai Composite was trading marginally higher by 0.08%. South Korea’s KOSPI was also seen up by 0.89%.

On Wall Street, the US stocks largely ended on a flat note on Thursday, dragged down by losses in Amazon shares, which was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 index.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.07%, the S&P 500 ended 0.11% higher, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.22%.

As many as 2,622 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,038 advanced, 1,494 declined, and 90 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth is favourable towards declines.

Meanwhile, 23 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 101 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 34 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 25 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 10.80 levels, falling 0.20%.

Shriram Finance was the most contributing stock, gaining 1.42%, followed by Eternal (0.95%), Power Grid (0.84%), Eicher Motors (0.79%) and Maruti Suzuki (0.76%).

On the flip side, Reliance Industries (0.71%), Max Healthcare (-0.6%), Trent (-0.47%), Tata Consumer Durables (-0.4%) and Apollo Hospitals (-0.34%) were the biggest laggards on the 50-share index.