Markets decline in early trade amid unabated foreign fund outflows

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Friday, December 20 amid unabated foreign fund outflows and concerns over the US Federal Reserve signalling fewer rate cuts next year.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex declined 214.08 points to 79,003.97 in early trade. The NSE Nifty also dipped 63.8 points to 23,887.90.

From the 30 blue-chip stocks, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, JSW Steel, ITC, Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement and HDFC Bank were the biggest laggards.

Titan, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services and Maruti were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul quoted lower while Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the positive territory.

Wall Street ended on a mixed note on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,224.92 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

“The FII buying witnessed in early December is getting reversed now with this week’s selling reaching Rs 12,229 crore. This change in FII strategy is getting reflected in market trends, too, with largecaps, particularly financials, coming under pressure due to FII selling. The negative response to the Fed’s commentary yesterday will be temporary. Recovery led by largecaps is possible in the near-term,” V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.69 per cent to USD 72.38 a barrel.

Falling for the fourth day running, the 30-share BSE benchmark tanked 964.15 points or 1.20 per cent to settle at 79,218.05 on Thursday. The Nifty tumbled 247.15 points or 1.02 per cent to sink below the 24,000 mark at 23,951.70.