Stock Market Updates: Sensex down 100 points, Nifty slips below 16,550; banking stocks drag

Indian benchmark indices opened lower amid mixed global cues. At 09:18 hours, the 30-share BSE index was trading 125 points or 0.23 per cent lower at 55,457.07, and the broader NSE Nifty was down 33 points or 0.20 per cent to 16,529.50.

Maruti Suzuki and HDFC Bank were the top losers in the Sensex pack, declining over 1 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, Axis Bank and M&M.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra and Sun pharma and were among the gainers.

On August 16, Sensex ended 145 points higher at a new peak of 55,582 and Nifty advanced 34 points to a fresh high of 16,563.

Tata Steel was the top Sensex gainer, rallying nearly 4 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, M&M, Bajaj Finserv and Reliance Industries.

Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan said, “Nifty had broken out on the upside recently following a brief consolidation. The hourly momentum indicator is showing weakness. It has turned its trajectory down from the overbought zone. Thus the index can step into a minor consolidation before heading higher. The consolidation can take place near 16,450-16,600 post which Nifty can head towards 16800 in the short term.”

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) emerged as net sellers offloading shares worth Rs 1,088 crore on August 16 and DIIs bought shares worth Rs 506 crore, as per provisional data available on NSE.