Key Indian equity benchmarks – Sensex and Nifty – halted their four-day rally on Thursday. The domestic indices started trade in the red tracking weak global cues and continuous foreign fund outflow of foreign funds.
At 11.20 am, the two indices trimmed their losses a bit. The BSE Sensex fell 128 points to 58,978, while the broader NSE Nifty tanked 23 points to 17,489.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, IndusInd Bank, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, and Maruti were the biggest laggards in early trade. On the flip side, HCL Tech, Nestle, Reliance Industries, ITC, and Hindustan Unilever were among the winners.
In the broader markets, as well a similar trend was seen as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 sank up to 0.8 per cent.
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All sectors plunged in the sea of red as investors' risk appetite worsened. Nifty Auto, Nifty Metal, and Nifty Consumer Durables indices declined the most - over 1 per cent.
Among individual stocks, shares of Nestle India gained over 1 per cent after the company posted 8.3 per cent YoY growth in net profit to Rs 668 crore in Q3, above street estimates.
The overall sentiment of the 30-share Sensex pack was negative as 12 scrips were advancing, 17 declining, while one remained unchanged.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE benchmark climbed 146 points (0.25 per cent) to settle at 59,107. The NSE Nifty advanced 25 points (0.14 per cent) to end at 17,512.
Among other Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading lower. Wall Street ended in the negative territory on Wednesday.
International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.17 per cent lower at $92.25 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 453.91 crore, as per exchange data.
Meanwhile, the rupee hit a new record low of 83.06 against US dollar after the Indian currency dropped 6 paise in early trade.