Mumbai, June 18 (IANS) The domestic benchmark indices opened lower on Wednesday amid rising geopolitical tensions, but turned green in the early trade as buying was seen in the auto, IT and PSU bank sectors.

At around 9.32 am, Sensex was trading 160.49 points or 0.20 per cent up at 81,743.79 while the Nifty added 57.40 point or 0.23 per cent at 24,910.80.

Nifty Bank was up 33 points or 0.06 per cent at 55,747.15 The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 58,358.95 after dropping 20.35 points or 0.03 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,412.80 after declining 7.55 points or 0.04 per cent.

According to analysts, the market’s hopes for de-escalation in in the Middle East war faded, as US President Donald Trump called for ‘Unconditional Surrender’ from Iran. Latest posts by Trump and the US defence movements in West Asia signal aggravation of the conflict, said market experts.

However, there is no panic in global equity markets and it appears that the markets’ assessment is that this conflict will end soon without impacting the global economy,” added Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

In the Sensex pack, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, NTPC and M&M were the top losers. Whereas, Indusind Bank, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, Eternal and TCS were the top gainers.

“Nifty encountered resistance around the 61.8 per cent retracement level of the recent decline, and it has witnessed a correction from there. Yesterday’s high of 24,982 is the immediate resistance level on the way up. On the way down, 24,550–24,450 will be a critical support zone,” said Vikram Kasat, Head-Advisory, PL Capital.

On the institutional front, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers as they bought equities worth Rs 1,616.19 crore on June 17, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 7,796.57 crore.

In the Asian markets, Bangkok, Japan and Seoul were trading in green. Whereas Jakarta, Hong Kong and China were trading in red.

In the last trading session, Dow Jones in the US closed at 42,215.80, down 299.29 points, or 0.70 per cent. The S&P 500 ended with a loss of 50.39 points, or 0.84 per cent, at 5,982.72 and the Nasdaq closed at 19,521.09, down 180.12 points, or 0.91 per cent.

–IANS

skt/na