Stock Market Today: Sensex Drops 169 Points; Nifty Settles Around 21,400. Realty, Bank Down

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, JSW Steel, ITC, Infosys, TechM, IndusInd Bank emerged losers, fell up to 2 per cent

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday closed in the red amid mixed global cues, as investors booked profit after seven straight weekly gains. The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 71,315, down 169 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 settled at 21,419, down 38 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, JSW Steel, ITC, Infosys, TechM, IndusInd Bank emerged losers, fell up to 2 per cent. On the flip side, Sun Pharma, Reliance, Bajaj Finance, HCLTech, Asian Paints, Titan, HUL were among the gainers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.28 per cent and 0.48 per cent, respectively.

Sectorwise, Nifty Media and Pharma indices advanced 1 per cent each, while the Nifty Realty declined 1 per cent and Bank index was down by 0.5 per cent.

In the previous session on Friday, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 970 points to 71,484, while, the NSE Nifty50 closed at 21,457, up 274 points.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, "The market started on a subdued note as concerns over oil supply disruptions through the Red Sea and elevated valuations dented investor sentiment."

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled lower while Seoul ended in the green. Europan markets were trading on a mixed note. The US markets ended mostly with gains on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.29 per cent to $76.33 a barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their buying momentum as they bought equities worth Rs 9,239.42 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee surrendered all its initial gains to settle 2 paise lower at 83.05 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, in line with a lacklustre trend in domestic equity markets. However, a weak greenback against major currencies overseas and sustained buying by foreign investors supported the local currency, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened strong at 82.97 against the greenback and traded in a range of 82.90-83.06. It finally settled at 83.05 (provisional), a decline of 2 paise over its previous close. On Friday, the domestic currency settled at 83.03 against the dollar.