Mumbai, Jun 5 (IANS): Indian equity benchmarks opened in green on Wednesday after losing almost 6 per cent in the previous day's session.

But in early trade, markets lost all gains. At 9.55 a.m., Sensex was at 71,946, down 132 points or 0.18 per cent and Nifty was down 20 points or 0.05 per cent, at 21,864.

Midcap and smallcap stocks are also in red. The Nifty midcap 100 index is down 319 points or 0.65 per cent, at 48,831 and the Nifty smallcap 100 index is down 122 points or 0.78 per cent, at 15,582.

India VIX or fear index (which is a volatility indicator of the stock market) is down 20.11 per cent at 21.37.

Among sectors, FMCG, pharma, IT, auto and consumption are major gainers. PSU bank, metal, realty and energy are major losers.

In the Sensex pack, HUL, Asian Paints, Nestle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HCL Tech and ITC are top gainers. L&T, Power Grid, NTPC, SBI and ICICI Bank top losers.

Pradeep Gupta, Co-founder & Vice-chairman of Anand Rathi Group, said, "Historical data suggests that despite initial volatility, markets tend to recover and even thrive in the longer term. For instance, even after the 2014 and 2019 elections, the Indian stock market saw significant gains in the months following the election results."

"Investors are advised to focus on long-term strategies, such as maintaining a diversified portfolio and avoiding panic selling. Strong fundamentals and resilience against political changes are crucial for navigating market volatility," Gupta added.