16The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday opened lower amid weak global cues. The Sensex climbed nearly 160 points in early trade, however, gave away gains shortly and turned negative.
At 10.30 am, the BSE Sensex was down 161 points to 52,746, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 15,682, down 70 points.
On the 30-share BSE platform, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, L&T, ICICI Bank, SBI, and ITC were the top winners, while Shree Cement, Tata Consumer, Britannia, Hero Moto were the additional gainers on the Nifty.
On the flipside, ONGC, Hindalco, JSW Steel, M&M, Tata Steel, Wipro, TCS, Tech M, Reliance led losses on the two benchmark indices.
On specific stock, shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) rose 0.73 per cent to trade at Rs 681.70.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index was up 0.34 per cent and SmallCap index remained unchanged.
On NSE, four out of the 15 sector gauges were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Metal, Nifty IT and Nifty Oil & Gas were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 1.84 per cent, 0.82 per cent and 0.34 per cent, respectively.
The overall market breadth was slightly positive as 1,792 shares were advancing, while 775 were declining on the BSE.
In their previous trading on Friday, Sensex had declined 111 points (0.21 per cent) lower to close at 52,908, while Nifty had moved 28 points (0.18 per cent) lower to settle at 15,752.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Tokyo and Shanghai were trading in the green, while Seoul and Hong Kong quoted lower.
The US markets ended with gains on Friday.
"Investors should exercise caution because global trends, crude oil movement, and FII activities may have an impact on market volatility," Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.13 per cent to $111 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 2,324.74 crore on Friday, as per exchange data.