Domestic equity benchmarks opened lower on Thursday amid continued foreign fund outflows with auto and cement stocks leading sectoral losses.
Sensex opened at 72,192.89, down 287.39 points or 0.39 per cent. Nifty began trading session declining 76.75 points or 0.34 per cent to 22,543.70.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto, Nifty Cement, Nifty Realty, Nifty Media and Nifty Healthcare were top laggards, plunging up to 2.76 per cent in early deals. Energy, metal and pharma indices also traded sharply lower, falling between 0.86 per cent and 0.95 per cent.
On the other hand, Nifty IT rose more than 1 per cent, while Nifty Private Bank also advanced 0.60 per cent.
The market remained under pressure after foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling streak.
On Wednesday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers for the fifth consecutive session and offloaded equities worth more than Rs 10,148 crore, according to provisional data.
Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued to provide support, purchasing equities worth Rs 11,271 crore during the session.
Analysts said sustained FII selling, coupled with rising US bond yields, could keep large-cap equities under pressure in the near term. FIIs sold equities worth Rs 45,536 crore through exchanges in September, while investing Rs 9,676 crore through the primary market, they added.
The experts further noted that the near-term market structure remains sideways to bearish, with immediate support for the Nifty placed around 22,500-22,550 and resistance at 22,800-22,900.
They said a sustained move above the resistance zone could improve sentiment, while a break below the support level may keep selling pressure intact.
Analysts also pointed to crude oil prices as a key factor to watch, noting that a decline in Brent crude below $98 a barrel could provide some relief to the market.
