Stock markets update: Equity benchmark indices opened in red in early trade on Friday amid weak trends in Asian markets and unabated foreign fund outflows. In the early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 17.92 points to 81,325.54. Meanwhile, the Nifty declined 51.65 points to 24,749.20.
Among the Sensex pack, Asian Paints went lower by 2 per cent after the company reported a 24.64 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,186.79 crore in the June quarter, hit by demand slowdown due to severe heatwave and general elections. UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, JSW Steel and NTPC were among the other laggards. On the contrary, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Bharti Airtel defied the broader market trend and were trading in the positive territory.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai were trading lower, while Hong Kong quoted higher. The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.35 per cent to USD 85. 38 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,271.45 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
Rupee against dollar
Meanwhile, the rupee was trading in a narrow range against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, as the support from sustained foreign fund inflows was negated by dollar demand from foreign investors and oil companies. Forex traders said a bounce back in crude oil prices weighed on the rupee. Moreover, weak Asian as well as European currencies may further dent investor sentiments. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit moved in a narrow range.It touched an early high of 83.62 and a low of 83.65 against the American currency.
(With PTI inputs)
ALSO READ: IMF upgrades India's GDP forecast to 7 per cent for 2024-25
