Stock Market: Sensex Falls Over 300 Points, Nifty Trades Below 17,400. IT Stocks Drag

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, TCS, Infosys, TechM, Axis Bank, Airtel, Maruti, M&M all went down in early morning trade. Bajaj Finserv, L&T, UltraCemco, ICICI Bank, SBI emerged winners

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday opened flat tracking subdued global sentiments. Both the domestic indices opened on a flat note. While

At 9.55 am, the BSE Sensex slipped 322 points to 59,089. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 17,370, down 81 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, TCS, Infosys, TechM, Axis Bank, Airtel, Maruti, M&M all went down in early morning trade. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, UltraCemco, ICICI Bank, SBI, Tata Steel, and IndusInd Bank emerged winners.

Among individual stocks, shares of RVNL soars over 8 per cent after it emerges as the lowest bidder to manufacture 200 Vande Bharat trains. Besides, shares of KNR Constructions surged over 2 per cent after it received order to build six lane access controlled Greenfield Highway along Bengaluru-Vijayawada economic corridor.

In the broader markets, Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices gained up to 0.2 per cent.

Sectorwise, Nifty Media, and Nifty Private Bank indices were off to a decent start, whereas, Nifty IT index was the worst hit as it declined nearly 1 per cent.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed with a gain of 449 points at 59,411, while the NSE Nifty ended 147 points higher at 17,451.

In Asian markets, Japan and Hong Kong were trading lower, while China and Seoul were quoting in the green. The US markets had ended mostly lower on Wednesday.

"The major concern for global equity markets continues to be the rising bond yields in the US, which will act as a drag for FII inflows into emerging markets like India. Yesterday the US 10-year bond yield touched 4 per cent. FIIs cannot be expected to turn buyers in this scenario," said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

International oil benchmark Brent crude advanced marginally by 0.05 per cent to $84.35 per barrel.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) again offloaded shares worth Rs 424.88 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 11 paise to 82.60 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, weighed down by strength of the American currency in the overseas market. Sustained foreign fund outflows further dented investor sentiments, according to forex traders.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.57 against the dollar, then fell to 82.60, registering a decline of 11 paise over its last close. On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 82.49 against the US dollar.