Sensex Falls 360 Points, Nifty Holds 17,500; Private Lenders, IT Stocks Slump

Bajaj Finance was top loser, shedding nearly 2 per cent, on the Sensex platform, followed by HDFC Bank, Infosys, M&M, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy’s, Maruti, and HDFC

New Delhi: The key Indian benchmark indices, BSE and Nifty, started trade on Monday on a volatile note, extending losses from the previous session due to weak global cues.

Losses in index majors such as HDFC twins, Infosys, and Maruti amid persistent foreign fund outflows and a mixed trend on Asian exchanges have also led the indices to slump.

At 10 am, the BSE Sensex was down 360 points to 58, 280, while the NSE Nifty dips 43 points to 17,516.

State Bank of India rose 1.7 per cent after posting stronger-than-expected profit in Q3, while other public sector lender Bank of Baroda jumped 4.9 per cent after quarterly profit more than doubled. Tata Steel, PowerGrid, and Reliance Industries were among the other gainers.

On the flip side, on the Sensex platform, Bajaj Finance was top loser, shedding nearly 2 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank, Infosys, M&M, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy’s, Maruti, and HDFC.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were both in the red zone, down 0.60 per cent and 0.25 per cent, respectively.

In the previous session, the 30-share index ended 143.20 points lower at 58,644.82. The NSE Nifty shed 43.90 points to close at 17,516.30.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with losses in mid-session deals, while Shanghai was in the green.

Stock exchanges in the US finished on a mixed note on Friday.

According to the RBI circular, G-secs, forex and markets will remain closed on Monday after the Maharashtra government declared a public holiday to mourn the demise of singer Lata Mangeshkar.

International oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.02 per cent to $93.25 per barrel.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled out as much as Rs 6,834 crore from Indian markets in the first four trading sessions of February.

According to the depositories data, FPIs took out Rs 3,627 crore from equities, Rs 3,173 crore from the debt segment and Rs 34 crore from hybrid instruments.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 2,267.86 crore on Friday, according to stock exchange data.