Domestic benchmarks opened lower on Wednesday on weak global cues amid debt ceiling negotiations in the US, while analysts expect investors to book profits after a 5 per cent rise in Nifty 50 in FY24 so far.

While Nifty 50 was down 0.12 per cent at 18,265.30, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.14 per cent to 61,853.14 in early trade.

Eight of the 13 major sectoral indexes declined, with the high-weightage financials and information technology (IT) losing 0.3 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively.

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"The market is witnessing profit booking, especially in heavyweights from higher levels," said Siddhartha Khemka, head - retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

"Some consolidation may not be ruled out given the sharp up-move in the last few weeks."

The Nifty 50 fell 0.61 per cent on Tuesday, after hitting a five-month high on Monday. The index has risen 5.34 per cent so far this fiscal, supported by a healthy results season and consistent buying from foreign institutional investors (FII), according to three analysts.

Vaishali Parekh, vice president - technical research at Prabhudas Lilladher, pegged the 18,200 and 18,450 as the support and resistance levels for the benchmark.

Metal stocks lost 0.5 per cent on concerns over demand recovery in China in light of weak macroeconomic data from the world's largest consumer and producer of metals.

Among individual stocks, Amber Enterprises Ltd and CrediAccess Grameen Ltd jumped more than 13 per cent and 7 per cnet, respectively, on strong March-quarter results, while LIC Housing Finance Ltd and Redington Ltd tumbled on a profit slide.

Wall Street equities closed lower overnight, as the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations and weak earnings dampened risk appetite. Asian markets were subdued.

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