Following global cues, the Indian markets opened on a neutral note, with the Sensex down nearly 100 points and the Nifty50 rising above the 17650-level thanks to stocks in the banking, auto, and metal industries.
The BSE Sensex was down 96.62 points, or 0.16 percent, at 59236 at the start of trading, while the Nifty50 was up 0.7 points, or 0%, at 17659.7. Broader markets, such the Nifty mid and small cap, gained 0.17 and 0.37 percent, respectively, outperforming the benchmarks at the opening.
Minutes after the market opened, up to 20 stocks climbed and 30 sank on Nifty50. In the morning, ahead of its quarterly earnings, ONGC shares rose by over 1%, followed by gains of about 0.5 % for Grasim, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, and HUL.
In contrast, Apollo Hospital, which had disappointing Q1 earnings, saw its share price fall by over 2% in the early morning session. Tech Mahindra, Maruti, Nestle India, Tata Motors, and Divis Lab all saw their share prices rise by between 1-1.5 % minutes later.
Except for the metals, real estate, and PSU Bank indices, all other sectoral indices on the NSE fell during the early morning trade. Most minutes after the market opened, Nifty FMCG and IT, then bank, auto, and financials, pulled the index down.