Stock markets update: Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Monday amid weak trends in Asian markets and unabated foreign fund outflows. In the early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 97.18 points to 65,697.55 in early trade. The Nifty declined 15.3 points to 19,716.50 points.
Among the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance and UltraTech Cement were the major laggards. HCL Technologies, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, State Bank of India and Power Grid were among the gainers.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the green while Tokyo quoted lower. The US markets ended with marginal gains on Friday.
"The ongoing rally in the mother market US triggered by declining bond yields makes the market construct slightly favourable for the continuation of the rally in India, too. Like in cricket, there will be occasional set backs, but it is the long-term trend that matters in the market," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.69 per cent to USD 81.17 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 477.76 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
Rupee against 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 rising crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.25 against the dollar and then touched a high of 83.23, and a low of 83.27 against the greenback. On Friday, the rupee settled at 83.26 against the dollar.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.36 per cent lower at 103.54. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.73 per cent to USD 81.20 per barrel.
(With inputs from PTI)
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