Mumbai, Aug 8 : The Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Friday amid the fresh US tariff jitters, as selling was seen in the IT and financial service sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.38 am, Sensex was trading 272.30 points or 0.34 per cent down at 80,350.96 while the Nifty declined 75.60 points or 0.31 per cent at 24,520.55.

According to analysts, the market continues to be technically and fundamentally weak. Continuous lower lows on the Nifty is technically a weak sign. From the fundamental perspective, there are no indications yet of a sharp uptick in earnings for FY26.

"In the present context of negative sentiments in the market caused by the tariff skirmishes between India and the US, FIIs are likely to continue selling in the cash market. The only saving grace is the sustained DII buying which remains strong," said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd.

Nifty Bank was down 124.90 points or 0.22 per cent at 55,396.25 in early trade. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 56,712.20 after declining 226.10 points or 0.40 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 17,629.80 after declining 62.85 points or 0.36 per cent.

"The Nifty opened on a weak note, falling nearly 225 points in early trade. However, it staged a strong recovery, rebounding over 250 points to end above the previous day's close.The index formed a bullish candlestick pattern, reflecting renewed buying interest and momentum," said Amruta Shinde, Technical & Derivative Analyst of Choice Broking.

From a technical standpoint, a sustained move above the 24,650 level could open the door for an upside toward 24,850. On the downside, immediate support is placed at 24,550, followed by 24,400 ' both of which could offer attractive entry points for fresh long positions, he added.

Meanwhile, in the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, BEL, Eternal and Axis Bank were the top losers. Whereas, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Trent and Bajaj Finserv were the top gainers.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities nearly Rs 4,997.19 crore on August 7, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 10,864.04 crore on the same day.

In the Asian markets, China, Japan and Jakarta were trading in green Whereas Bangkok, Seoul and Hong Kong were trading in red.

In the last trading session, Dow Jones in the US closed at 43,968.64, down 224.48 points, or 0.51 per cent. The S&P 500 ended with a loss of 5.06 points, or 0.08 per cent at 6,340 and the Nasdaq closed at 21,242.70, up 73.27 points, or 0.35 per cent.

/IANS