Sensex drops over 100 pts in early trade; Nifty slips below 17,750

Mumbai, February 3 dmanewsdesk:  Equity benchmark Sensex declined over 100 points in opening trade on Thursday, tracking losses in index majors HDFC, Infosys and Wipro.

Unabated foreign fund outflows weighed on domestic equities, traders said.

The BSE gauge was trading 116.47 points or 0.20 per cent lower at 59,441.86 in early trade. Likewise, the Nifty fell 33.75 points or 0.19 per cent to 17,746.25.

HDFC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 1.10 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, HCL Tech and Kotak Bank.

On the other hand, Titan Asian Paints, ITC, Maruti, SBI and NTPC were among the gainers.

HDFC on Wednesday reported a standalone net income of Rs 3,261 crore for the three months to December 2021, logging in an 11 per cent growth over Rs 2,926 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

In the previous session, the 30-share benchmark climbed 695.76 points or 1.18 per cent to finish at 59,558.33 — its third straight session of gains. Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty jumped 203.15 points or 1.16 per cent to end at 17,780.00.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo was trading with losses in mid-session deals, while Seoul was in the green.

Several Asian markets, including China and Hong Kong, are shut for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Stock exchanges in the US finished with significant gains in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.27 per cent to USD 89.23 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 183.60 crore on Wednesday, according to stock exchange data.

Source: PTI