Markets fall in early trade amid foreign fund outflows; Rupee falls 31 paise against dollar

Stock markets: Amid foreign fund outflows and weak trends in the US markets, equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Friday. Extending its previous day’s fall, the 30-share BSE Sensex went lower by 204.84 points to 66,061.98. The NSE Nifty declined 60.35 points to 19,599.55.

From the Sensex pack, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major laggards. Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, Reliance Industries and Wipro were among the gainers. 

How did Asian, US markets fare?

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the green while Tokyo quoted lower. The US markets had ended in the negative territory on Thursday. Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.40 per cent lower at USD 83.90 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,979.44 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. The BSE benchmark had plunged 440.38 points or 0.66 per cent to settle at 6,266.82 on Thursday, while the Nifty declined 118.40 points or 0.60 per cent to close at 19,659.90.

Rupee falls against dollar

The rupee plunged 31 paise to 82.23 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday amid massive outflow of foreign funds and subdued equity markets.

Elevated level of crude prices nearing USD 84 a barrel also weighed on the domestic unit even as the American currency gained strength on the back of better-than-expected GDP numbers from the US, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.30, then touched a high of 82.19 against the American currency. It later traded at 82.23, registering a fall of 31 paise over its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 81.92 against the dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell marginally by 0.02 per cent to 101.76.

(With PTI inputs)

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