Opening bell: Amid global market volatility, Indian indices trade flat

The Indian market began the day in red, mirroring weakness in the Asian market.

In the early session, the benchmark indices experienced slight declines due to negative global cues. All of the sectoral indices, except for Metal, Pharma, and Healthcare, declined. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 89.1 points or 0.16% to 54,432.05. This was the case at 09:28 IST. To reach 16,255.45, the Nifty 50 index dropped 23.05 points or 0.14%. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index increased 0.27% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index increased 0.39% in the overall market. Market breadth was substantial. 1,618 shares increased and 840 shares decreased on the BSE and 115 shares in total remained unchanged.

The top gainers on the Nifty include ONGC, which has increased by around 2% and M&M, Tata Steel, Coal India, and Reliance Industries, which have increased by 0.5 to 1%. Asian Paints, Nestle Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Life, and HUL are the top Nifty bears, each falling between 0.8 and 1.2%. Stocks of major companies including Tita, Tata Consumers, Infosys, L&T, and TCS fell by more than 0.5% apiece.

In the Indian equities market on July 18, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchased shares worth Rs 156.08 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net purchasers to the tune of Rs 844.33 crore. After a strong start to the week, most Asian stocks fell on Tuesday as investors evaluated the meeting minutes of Australia's central bank.

Wall Street finished Monday's trading session lower as bank stocks undid earlier gains and Apple shares dropped on news that the company planned to restrict hiring and expenditure growth in 2019. Additionally, Asian indices opened with mixed results, with the Japanese 'Nikkei' trading higher following a holiday closure yesterday, while the other markets followed US cues and traded lower in early trade.