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 258.45 points to 80,925.48 in early trade. Meanwhile, the Nifty also fell by 84.95 points to 24,767.20.
Among the 30 Sensex firms, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, NTPC, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors were the biggest laggards. Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services were among the gainers.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower. The US markets ended significantly lower on Friday. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 620.95 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.24 per cent to USD 71.94 a barrel.
Rupee against dollar
Meanwhile, the rupee traded in a narrow range on Monday and appreciated 1 paisa to 83.94 against the American currency, amid a muted trend in domestic equities. Forex traders said easing crude oil prices and overall weakness in the dollar index supported the rupee, but the Reserve Bank's active intervention kept the rupee in a tight range.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit moved in a narrow range. It opened at 83.96 against the American currency and touched 83.85 in initial trade. It was later trading at 83.95 against the greenback, unchanged from its previous close. On Friday, the rupee gained 2 paise to close at 83.95 against the US dollar.
(With PTI inputs)
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