Stock Market Today: Sensex Falls 100 Points; Nifty Below 21,450 Amid Volatility. Pharma Gains

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, ICICI Bank, ITC, PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, JSW Steel, Axis Bank emerged lower. Sun Pharma, RIL, Titan, Bajaj Finance, HUL, Wipro were among early gainers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, were trading in the red amid volatility. At 10 am, the BSE Sensex dipped 109 points to 71,375. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 21,440, down 17 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, ICICI Bank, ITC, PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, JSW Steel, Axis Bank emerged lower. On the flipside, Sun Pharma, Reliance, Titan, Bajaj Finance, HUL, Wipro were among early gainers. Among specific stocks, shares of JSW Steel fell over 3 per cent on the controversy surrounding JSW Group chief Sajjan Jindal.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index was trading flat, while the SmallCap gained 0.3 per cent.

Sectorwise, pharma index rose 1 per cent. However, some selling is seen in the bank, power, and realty sectors.

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.

In the Asian market, Japan's Nikkei was down over 1 per cent a day ahead of Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision. Hang Seng also was down nearly 1 per cent, while Shanghai and Kospi slipped around 0.5 per cent each.

Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong quoted lower while Seoul traded in the green. The US markets ended mostly with gains on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.46 per cent to $76.90 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, Indian rupee appreciated 7 paise to 82.96 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, as a weak American currency in the overseas markets and unabated foreign fund inflows boosted investor sentiment. However, a muted trend in the domestic equity markets restricted gain in the local unit, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened 6 paise higher at 82.97 against the dollar. In early trade, the rupee was oscillating between 82.95 and 83.02.

In initial deals, the rupee was trading at 82.96 against the US dollar, a gain of 7 paise over its previous close. On Friday, the rupee settled at 83.03 against the dollar.