Sensex and Nifty 50 were down in early trade after having opened flat. At 9.30 am, the Sensex was down 199.14 points or 0.27 percent at 73,696.40, and the Nifty 50 was down 47.90 points at 22,394.80. About 1,336 shares advanced, 1,637 shares declined, and 98 shares were unchanged.
Financial services and IT stocks dragged the indices down while FMCG and consumer durables were the major positive contributors. In the broader market, BSE Midcap was flat and BSE Smallcap was down 0.4 percent.
"Nifty's bullish momentum faces hurdles due to lackluster Q4 Indian corporate earnings, as India VIX surges," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities. "Technical analysis suggests a risk-on approach if Nifty holds above 22137, with key levels at 22307 and 23000," he said in a note.
India VIX, the fear gauge, rose 2 percent to 17, marking its ninth day of gain.
HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were the major laggards in financial services dragging Nifty Bank down by 0.7 percent.
On the Nifty 50 index, HUL, Britannia, Nestle, and ITC were the top gainers. HUL was up 3.5 percent. Britannia, Nestle, and ITC rose by 2 percent. HUL, ITC, and Marico were the major contributors to lifting the Nifty FMCG index higher. Marico, buoyed by robust earnings in the March quarter, witnessed favorable rating upgrades and target price revisions from brokerages.
US indices ended higher overnight and Asian indices were up on May 7 as investors continued to gain hope that there was a greater chance of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates this year.
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