Stock Market: Sensex Dips 65 Points, Nifty Trades Below 18,400 Tracking Weak Global Cues

Stock update: Titan, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Maruti were the major losers on the Sensex platform

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Thursday started trade on a negative note tracking weak global market trends.

At 10.30 am, the BSE Sensex trimmed some of its early morning losses and was trading at 61,915, down 65 points, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 29 points to 18,380.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Titan, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Maruti were the major laggards. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, and Hindustan Unilever were among the winners.

Among individual stocks, shares of Paytm declined over 10 per cent after nearly 6 per cent equity of the company changed hands on the exchange via block deals.

In the broader markets, Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 indices declined up to 0.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, volatility gauge, India VIX, climbed over 1 per cent.

Sectorwise, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Pharma, and Nifty Financial Services traded in positive territory. Nifty Metal index, however, declined the most, over 1 per cent.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex ended 108 points (0.17 per cent) higher at 61,980, its fresh life-time high. The Nifty had ended marginally higher by 6 points (0.03 per cent) to 18,410.

"The market is likely to struggle in early trades Thursday, tracking weakness across the Asian indices after the US gauges faltered in overnight trades," said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower. Wall Street had ended in the negative territory on Wednesday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1 per cent lower at $91.90 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 386.06 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 37 paise to 81.63 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and a muted trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.62 against the dollar, then lost ground to quote at 81.63, registering a loss of 37 paise over its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee depreciated by 35 paise to close at 81.26 against the US dollar.