Sensex drops over 100 points in early trade; Nifty slips below 18,100

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex opened on a choppy note on Monday and dropped over 100 points tracking losses in index majors Infosys, HDFC Bank and Kotak Bank, despite a largely positive trend in global markets.

The 30-share index opened on a positive note but soon pared the gains and was trading 114.93 points or 0.19 per cent lower at 60,706.69 in initial deals. Similarly, the Nifty declined 58.55 points or 0.32 per cent to 18,056.35.

Asian Paints was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Bank and Bajaj Auto.

On the other hand, ICICI Bank zoomed 8 per cent on strong earnings. Axis Bank, M&M and NTPC were among the other gainers.

In the previous session, the 30-share index fell 101.88 points or 0.17 per cent to 60,821.62, and broader NSE Nifty shed 63.20 points or 0.35 per cent to close at 18,114.90.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,697.70 crore on Friday, as per exchange data.

Domestic equities look to be muted as of now, said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

“High input costs have adversely impacted margins and profitability of select consumer and manufacturing companies despite steady volume and sales growth.

“This essentially raises concerns about sustainability of earnings rebound in subsequent quarters, which has weighed on sentiments. However, despite that overall performance so far has been good with sharp growth in revenue aiding double-digit growth in earnings,” he said.

In his view, the market may remain volatile with downward bias in the near-term and investors will track pricing power of the industries.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Tokyo was in the red.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.79 per cent to USD 85.31 per barrel.