Sensex Falls Over 450 Points On Weak Global Cues, Nifty Trades Below 17,850

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a lower opening on Wednesday, taking cues from the global markets.

Asian stocks slipped as investors feared aggressive monetary tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve to fight inflation. The focus was also on new Western sanctions against Russia over its Ukraine invasion.

Trends on the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange (SGX Nifty) also indicated a gap-down start for the domestic indices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 473 points or 0.79 per cent to 59,704 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 126 points or 0.70 per cent down to 17,832.

Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a negative note as Nifty Midcap 100 moved 0.35 down and small-cap shares shed 0.33 per cent.