Sensex, Nifty slip in opening trade; Lauras Labs, Tech Mahindra & PNB Housing down up to 6%

Indian equity benchmarks traded lower in Thursday's early trade, dragged by technology and pharma stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 156 points or 0.22 per cent to trade at 70,904, while the NSE Nifty was down 34 points or 0.16 per cent to trade at 21,420. Broader markets (mid- and small-cap shares) were, however, positive as Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.17 per cent and small-cap climbed 0.58 per cent.

On the global front, Asian shares were muted as investors awaited more details on China's stimulus plans. Overnight, Wall Street equities settled on a mixed note.

Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 6,934.93 crore worth of shares on a net basis during the previous session, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 6,012.67 crore worth of shares, exchange data showed.

Eight out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 1.15 per cent and 0.50 per cent, respectively. Although, an uptick in Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Metal capped some losses.

On the stock-specific front, Tech Mahindra was the top loser in the Nifty pack as the stock cracked 5.34 per cent to trade at Rs 1,332.7. HCLTech, SBI Life, Wipro and Infosys fell up to 1.87 per cent.

In contrast, Coal India, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, BPCL and Bajaj Finance were among the top gainers.

The overall market breadth was strong as 2,066 shares were declining while 861 were advancing on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, frontline stocks such as HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, TechM, TCS, Infosys, HCLTech and ICICI Bank were among the top laggards.

Also, BSE 500 stocks such as Lauras Labs, PNB Housing, Aarti Drugs, KPIT Tech, Blue Star, KEI Industries, TVS Motor Company and PB Fintech slumped up to 6.16 per cent. On the other hand, RITES, Sunteck Realty, NLC India, Indian Bank, NMDC Steel, Shree Renuka Sugars, Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy and Oracle Financial Services Software jumped up to 6.80 per cent.

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