Stock Market Today: Sensex Slips 80 Points; Nifty Trades Around 21,650 Amid Volatility. FMCG Sinks 1%

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, HUL, ITC, Nestle, TechM, Bajaj twins were among the losers. On the flip side, Airtel, Titan, HCL, Tata Motors, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma emerged gainers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday were trading in the red amid volatility following select shares witnessed selling pressure. At 10.05 am, the BSE Sensex was down 84 points to 71,942. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 21,685, down 26 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, HUL, ITC, Nestle, TechM, Bajaj twins were among the losers. On the flip side, Airtel, Titan, HCL, Tata Motors, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma emerged gainers. A total of 1,713 shares advanced; 1,478 shares declined, while 102 remain unchanged.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap fell 0.3 per cent and the Smallcap dropped 0.1 per cent.

Sectorally, except oil & gas and auto, all other indices are in the negative zone, with FMCG index sinking 1 per cent.

In the Asian market, Hang Seng slipped nearly 2 per cent, and Shanghai was down almost 1 per cent. Straits Times and Kospi were flat, while Taiwan advanced 0.5 per cent. The US markets ended marginally up on Friday.

FIIs net bought shares worth Rs 3,290 crore. On the other hand, domestic mutual funds were net sellers of nearly Rs 7,900 crore.

In the previous session on Friday, the S&P BSE Sensex climbed over 150 points to close at 72,026.15, while the NSE Nifty50 jumped just above 50 points to settle at 21,710.80.

"The year-end rally which took the Nifty up by around 14 per cent from the 2023 October lows, is slowly running out of steam. The major challenge for the rally comes from the mother market US which is showing signs of weakness," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.09 per cent to $77.90 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,696.86 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 9 paise to 83.06 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday on the back of positive domestic equity markets and inflow of foreign fund. However, forex traders said a strong American currency and volatile crude oil prices weighed on the domestic currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic currency opened at 83.09, touched the level of 83.04 before trading at 83.06 against the greenback in initial deals, registering a rise of 9 paise from its previous close. On Friday, the domestic currency settled at 83.15 against the dollar.