Sensex, Nifty start on choppy note

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty opened on a choppy note on Wednesday, tracking weakness in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, SBI and ICICI Bank.

Building on Tuesday's stellar rebound, the 30-share Sensex added over 300 points at the opening session but soon lost ground and slipped into the red.

The benchmark was last quoted at 58,124.02, down 18.03 points or 0.03 per cent. The NSE Nifty was down 2.05 points or 0.01 per cent at 17,350.40.

Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding about 1.45 per cent, followed by L&T, ICICI Bank, SBI and UltraTech.

On the other hand, M&M, HDFC, Dr Reddy's, PowerGrid and Kotak Bank were among the gainers.

''US stocks ended sharply higher Tuesday, with all three major benchmarks snapping a three-day losing streak.

''Stocks rose as investors read recent developments in western Russia as indication of de-escalation in animosities, even as US President Joe Biden cautioned that an attack by Russia of Ukraine was still seen as imminent," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

On Tuesday, the Sensex had surged 1,736.21 points or 3.08 per cent to end at 58,142.05. This was its biggest one-day jump since February 1, 2021. Likewise, the NSE Nifty had soared 509.65 points or 3.03 per cent to settle at 17,352.45.

Elsewhere in Asia on Wednesday, bourses were trading higher in afternoon deals as fears of a Russian invasion of the Ukraine this week dissipated.

Global crude oil benchmark Brent Futures fell 0.19 per cent to USD 93.06 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,298.76 crore, according to stock exchange data.