Stock markets update: Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Wednesday amid weak trends in Asian markets and unabated foreign fund outflows. In the early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 316.75 points to 70,053.80 in early trade. Meanwhile, the Nifty declined 51.15 points to 21,187.65.
Among the Sensex firms, IndusInd Bank, SBI, Tata Steel and Infosys were trading with a gain of up to 1.84 per cent. HCL Tech, JSW Steel and PowerGrid were other major gainers. On the other hand, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, TCS and M&M lost up to 3.79 per cent in the morning deals. Maruti, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finance were among the laggards. As many as 21 stocks of the 30-share benchmark were trading in green, while 32 constituents of the broader Nifty showed gains.
US and European markets
In the US markets, the Dow closed 0.25 per cent lower, while the S&P 500 settled 0.29 per cent higher and tech-heavy Nasdaq closed Tuesday's session 0.43 per cent higher. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 was trading with a loss of 1.00 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.84 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite was down by 0.14 per cent.
European markets closed largely lower on Tuesday with Germany's DAX and CAC 40 of France losing 0.34 per cent each. London's FTSE 100 also fell 0.03 per cent.
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading lower by 0.18 per cent to USD 79.41 per barrel on Wednesday.
Rupee opens on flat note
Meanwhile, the rupee opened on a flat note and appreciated 1 paisa to 83.14 against the US dollar in the morning session on Wednesday, amid a muted trend in domestic equities. Forex traders said the rupee is trading with a slight negative bias amid selling pressure from foreign investors.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.15 against the dollar, then rose to 83.14, registering a rise of 1 paisa over its previous close. In the initial trade, the rupee touched an early low of 83.16 against the US dollar. On Tuesday, the rupee had settled at 83.15 against the US dollar.
(With PTI inputs)
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