The headline indices started May 16's session on a weak note. However, the broad market indices continued their outperformance
Domestic benchmark equity indices opened on a weak note on May 16, following a sharp rally in the previous session. The Sensex started 138.11 points or 0.17 per cent lower at 82,392.63, while the Nifty 50 began with marginal gains of 2.55 points or 0.01 per cent at 25,064.65. However, markets slipped soon after the opening bell, with the Sensex falling as much as 250 points and the Nifty declining over 50 points.
In contrast, the broader markets outperformed. The Nifty Midcap 100 was up between 0.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose around 0.5 per cent in early trade.
On the sectoral front, barring IT, all other sectoral indices were trading in green. Nifty Realty gained over 1 per cent, emerging as the top sectoral gainer. Auto, Consumer Durables and Metals were trading higher in the range 0.3 per cent to 0.6 per cent, while IT slipped around 0.2 per cent.
The Nifty Bank index, which tracks the performance of top 12 public and private banks, slipped around 0.2 per cent to trade in the red around 55,300 level.
Earlier on May 15, the Sensex climbed 1,200.18 points or 1.48 per cent to end at 82,530.74, and the Nifty 50 gained 395.20 points or 1.6 per cent to settle at 25,062.10.
Among the top gainers in Sensex were Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Eternal, NTPC, Adani Ports, and Ultratech Cement, which gained between 0.6 per cent and 1 per cent.
On the losing side were Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, Infosys and HCL Technologies, slipping between 0.7 per cent to 2.7 per cent.
From the Nifty 50 pack, Eicher Motors, Adani Enterprises, Bharat Electronics, NTPC, Eternal and Adani Ports were the top gainers in early trade, while Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, and Dr Reddy's Lab were the top losers.
The US stock market ended on a mixed note. The S&P 500 closed higher for the fourth consecutive session amid US-China trade deal optimism and a dip in Treasury yields. It closed 0.41 per cent higher at 5,916.93.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 0.65 per cent to end at 42,322.75. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, however, slipped 0.18 per cent to settle at 19,112.32.
Asian markets showed a mixed trend in early trade on May 16, following data that revealed Japan's economy contracted for the first time in a year. The country's GDP shrank by 0.2 per cent in the March quarter, weighing on investor sentiment.
Japan's Nikkei 225 and Topix indices were trading lower, slipping between 0.15 per cent and 0.3 per cent. In China, the SSE Composite slipped 0.6 per cent, while the SZSE Component traded largely flat with a slight positive bias. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index also remained under pressure, down 0.7 per cent. Meanwhile, South Korea's KOSPI held steady, trading in a flat-to-positive range.