Indian shares open flat, tracking subdued Asian peers

Indian stock benchmarks opened flat on Friday, as a US tech selloff and subdued Asian cues kept sentiment restrained ahead of a local GDP print later in the day.

The Nifty 50 fell 0.14% to 25,459.85 and the BSE Sensex shed 0.03% to 82,220.48 as of 9:15 a.m. IST.

Barring IT, all the other 15 major sectors declined.

The broader small-caps and mid-caps opened flat.

The beaten-down IT stocks, which have lost about 20% in February so far on artificial intelligence-linked disruption fears, rose 1.9% at the open.

The Nifty and Sensex have dropped 0.4% and 0.7% this week.

There is “cautious sentiment and persistent pressure from the bears,” said Sudeep Shah, head of technical and derivatives research at SBI Securities.

“The prolonged sideways movement reflects the absence of momentum in either direction, reinforcing the ongoing consolidation phase.”