Mumbai, May 20 (IANS): Indian stock markets opened lower on Wednesday, mirroring weak global cues from the US and Asian markets amid rising bond yields and geopolitical tensions in West Asia, with the Sensex opening at 74,806.49, down 394.36 points or 0.52 per cent, and the Nifty beginning the session at 23,457.25, slipping 160.75 points or 0.68 per cent. During morning trade, the Sensex declined further to hit an intraday low of 74,529, down 671 points or 0.89 per cent, while the Nifty fell 220 points or 0.93 per cent to 23,397. Sectoral indices were largely in the red, with Nifty Media declining 1.90 per cent and Nifty Realty falling 1.63 per cent as top laggards, while Nifty Chemicals, Nifty Auto, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty FMCG, and Nifty Cement also recorded notable declines. Tata Steel, Bharat Electronics Limited, Mahindra and Mahindra, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki India, and ICICI Bank were among the top losers from the Nifty pack, while the volatility tracker India VIX rose more than 3 per cent to around 19.
Market experts noted that overall sentiment remained cautious as momentum indicators continued to flash bearish signals, with the index trading below all key moving averages. Technically, experts observed that the Nifty formed a small bearish candle with an upper wick on the daily chart, indicating hesitation and selling pressure at higher levels amid ongoing consolidation, while the index remained below the 38.2 per cent Fibonacci retracement level of both the April rally and the broader February-to-April correction, signalling a continued bearish bias. On the commodities front, Brent crude declined 0.77 per cent to $110.42 per barrel while WTI crude traded about 1 per cent lower at $103.12 per barrel. In Asia, major indices including the Nikkei, Hang Seng, and KOSPI fell for a fourth straight session, while overnight in the US, the S&P 500 declined 0.67 per cent and the Nasdaq closed 0.87 per cent lower.