Sensex cracks over 500 points in early trade; Nifty below 13,800

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex dropped over 520 points in early trade on Thursday, tracking losses in index-heavyweight stocks like HDFC twins, TCS, Infosys and ICICI Bank amid a weak trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 523.14 points or 1.10% lower at 46,886.79.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty fell 167.80 points or 1.2% to 13,799.70.

HDFC Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2.50%, followed by HDFC, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, SBI, and Nestle India.

On the other hand, ONGC, NTPC, Reliance Industries and HUL were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the Sensex tumbled 937.66 points or 1.94% to settle at 47,409.93, while the NSE Nifty plunged 271.40 points or 1.91% to close the session at 13,967.50.

According to traders, recent foreign fund outflows from the domestic capital markets also had an impact on investor sentiment.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,688.22 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.

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

US equities finished lower mainly due to lower earnings by tech giants and concerns overstretched valuation.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark, Brent crude futures, were trading 0.45% lower at $55.56 per barrel.