Sensex slips 100 pts, Nifty near 11,950; metals, PSBs drag as markets open

MUMBAI: The S&P benchmark BSE Sensex was down over 100 points to 40,567 while Nifty traded near 11,97 as the markets opened on Wednesday. Yes Bank was among the top losers in the Sensex pack, down about 4%. Shares of Yes Bank have come under strong selling pressure in the past few sessions. Besides Yes Bank, Tata Steel, Vedanta, and Larsen & Toubro were the top losers.

Conversely, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank were among the top gainers.

Majority of the Nifty sectoral indices were trading in the red. Nifty Metal, down 1.6 per cent, and Nifty PSU Bank, down 0.6 per cent, bled the most. Nifty IT, on the other hand, gained 0.7 per cent as Rupee opened lower for the day.

After weeks of broad optimism that the US and China are close to a partial agreement, Donald Trump had said on Tuesday that he would be happy to wait until after next year’s elections.

The comments sparked a selloff in global markets, with Wall Street falling over 1% overnight.

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had also warned that more tariffs on Chinese goods planned for December 15 would be imposed if the first phase of trade talks was not completed by then.

The Reserve Bank of India is also expected to announce its monetary policy and many analysts expect the central bank to go for another cut to boost growth.