Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened lower on Tuesday, weighed down by sustained foreign fund outflows and weak cues from Asian markets.
The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 55 points to 83,923.48, while the NSE Nifty declined 40.95 points to 25,722.40 in early trade.
Among Sensex constituents, Power Grid, Eterna, HCL Tech, Maruti, Tata Motors, and Infosys were the top laggards. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Titan, Reliance Industries, and Mahindra & Mahindra registered gains.
According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,883.78 crore on Monday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 3,516.36 crore.
“Renewed selling by FIIs is restricting the market rally. In the past four days, FIIs have offloaded equities worth Rs 14,269 crore, indicating that they may continue to sell on rallies. Elevated valuations in India and subdued earnings growth are prompting FIIs to focus on cheaper markets with stronger growth prospects,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, and Shanghai’s Composite Index were trading lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was in the green.
US markets closed mostly higher on Monday. Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude eased 0.20% to USD 64.76 per barrel.
On Monday, the Sensex had edged up 39.78 points, or 0.05%, to close at 83,978.49, while the Nifty added 41.25 points, or 0.16%, to end at 25,763.35.
