Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined amid continuous foreign fund outflows and sluggish trends in the global market on Monday. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 179.06 points to 63,603.74 in early trade. The Nifty dipped 49.25 points to 18,998.
Among the Sensex firms, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Power Grid, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Titan and Axis Bank were the major laggards. Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement and Tata Consultancy Services were the gainers. In Asian markets, Tokyo and Hong Kong traded in the negative territory while Seoul and Shanghai were quoted in the green.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.23 per cent to USD 89.37 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,500.13 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have pulled out over Rs 20,300 crore from Indian equities this month so far, primarily due to a sharp surge in the US treasury yield, and the uncertain environment resulting from the Israel-Hamas conflict. The BSE benchmark jumped 634.65 points or 1.01 per cent to settle at 63,782.80 on Friday. The wider gauge Nifty surged 190 points or 1.01 per cent to 19,047.25.
Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar
The rupee was trading in a narrow range against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, amid a negative trend in domestic equities. Forex traders said the rupee is trading in a narrow range as sustained foreign fund outflows and the strength of the American currency in the overseas market weighed on investor sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.25 against the dollar and then touched an early high of 83.24, and a low of 83.26 against the greenback.
(With PTI inputs)
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