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Sensex Slips Ahead of Rail Budget, Nifty Hovers Around 8,750
26 Feb 2015, 09:57 AM IST 
The Sensex opened lower in trades on Thursday ahead of Railway Budget announcements which are due to come later in the day.
The broader Nifty was hovering around its important psychological level of 8,750 as investors turned cautious ahead of the key event.
Modi government will be announcing its first full year Railway Budget. The event will be in focus as investors will watch out as to how the NDA government goes ahead on the path of economic reforms to boost growth.
Indian Railways which is considered as the lifeline of Indian economy needs to undergo a makeover so that it can contribute to country's growth, analysts said.
Overnight, the S&P 500 closed down and the Nasdaq snapped a 10-session winning streak on Wednesday as investors took profits in Apple shares, while the Dow eked out another record high close. Boosting the Dow were consumer discretionary shares including McDonald's, up 3.9 per cent at $98.66, which also helped to limit losses on the S&P 500.
Among the Asian markets, Nikkei jumped to fresh 15-year after upbeat US housing and Chinese factory data, while the dollar nursed modest losses following Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's comments.
Nikkei and Hang Seng were trading higher by over 0.5 per cent each.
Back home, Railway stocks will be in focus in today's session as any policy measures which the Railway Minister announces can have a direct impact on the stock price of these companies.
Meanwhile, most of the sectors were facing the heat of selling pressure as traders resorted to selling as F&O contract for the month of February was set to expire today. Auto, banking, capital goods, FMCG, banking and healthcare stocks were the worst hit in the opening trades.
The broader markets also succumbed to the selling pressure. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices were down 0.2 per cent each.
From the Nifty basket, Sun Pharma was the top loser, the stock fell 2.2 per cent to Rs 871. Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bajaj Auto, Infosys, Hindalco and Bharat Petroleum were among the top losers. On the other hand, Sesa Sterlite, Jindal Steel, ONGC, Power Grid and Tata Steel were among the notable gainers.