Equity markets decline in early trade dragged by bank stocks, foreign fund outflows

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Tuesday dragged by blue-chip bank stocks and persistent foreign fund outflows.

After scaling record high level in the previous intra-day session, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 380.02 points to 85,261.88 during initial trade.

The 50-share NSE Nifty declined by 98.3 points to 26,077.45. From the Sensex firms, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Adani Ports, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Eternal were among the biggest laggards.

However, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, Infosys and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,171.31 crore on Monday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 2,558.93 crore, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Shanghai's SSE Composite index traded lower while South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index quoted in positive territory.

US markets ended lower on Monday. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dipped 0.03 per cent to USD 63.15 per barrel.

On Monday, the Sensex pared early gains and ended 64.77 points or 0.08 per cent lower at 85,641.90. During the day, the benchmark jumped 452.35 points or 0.52 per cent to hit a record intra-day high of 86,159.02.

The Nifty dipped 27.20 points or 0.10 per cent to settle at 26,175.75. During the day, it climbed 122.85 points or 0.46 per cent to hit a lifetime high of 26,325.80.