Stock Market: Sensex Drops 330 Points, Nifty Below 19,350 On Weak Global Cues. Metals Down, RIL Up

Stock Update Today: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, HCL were among the early losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday opened in the red tracking weak global sentiment, ahead of India’s Independence Day. At 9.50 am, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 337 points to 64,985. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty was trading at 19,309, down 119 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, HCL were among the early losers. On the flip side, Reliance, Sun Pharma, Infosys, HUL, and Kotak Bank were the only gainers on the platform.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices saw profit booking in the early session as they declined 1.6 per cent each.

Sectorwise, the Nifty Metal declined 1.5 per cent, followed by the Nifty PSU bank and Auto indices, down 1 per cent each.

In the previous session on Friday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed near the days’ lows of the day, down 366 points at 65,322, while the NSE Nifty settled at 19,428, down 115 points.

"The market construct has turned a bit negative. The spike in the dollar index to 103 and the US 10-year bond yield rising to 4.18 are negative for capital flows to emerging markets. The FPI sell figure of Rs 3,073 crore last Friday is in tune with these negative trends," said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading in the negative territory. The US markets ended mostly lower on Friday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,073.28 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.85 per cent to $86.07 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 25 paise to 83.07 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday as a negative trend in domestic equities and firm crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiments. Forex traders said the rupee is trading lower on strong dollar and sustained foreign fund outflows over the past few days.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.04, then touched 83.07, registering a decline of 25 paise over its last close. On Friday, the rupee had settled 16 paise lower at 82.82 against the dollar.