The BSE benchmark Sensex was down by 168 points in early trade on Monday on fresh selling by foreign funds and retail investors in banking, metal and auto stocks on the back of weak Asian cues.
The BSE benchmark Sensex resumed lower at 18,269.06 and dropped further to 18,106.99 before quoting at 18,157.69 at 1015 hours, showing a net loss of 168.40, or 0.92 per cent, from last weekend’s close.
The National Stock Exchange’s 50-share Nifty index also fell by 55.95 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 5,430.40 at 1015 hours from its last close.
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Auto shares declined on fears that rising fuel prices and interest rates may dampen demand for vehicles.
BHEL and GAIL (India) fell ahead of their Q4 results due today.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs. 181.55 crore and domestic funds bought shares worth Rs. 398.19 crore last Friday, as per provisional figures released by the stock exchanges.
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The major losers in early trade were Reliance Infra (down 2.37 per cent), Tata Motors (2.27 per cent), ICICI Bank (2.11 per cent), Jaiprakash Associates (2.02 per cent) and HDFC Bank (1.94 per cent).
Asian stocks dropped in early trade today as Fitch Ratings cut Greece’s credit rating and Standard & Poor’s said Italy’s rating was at risk, deepening concern over Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.
The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan fell by between 1.33 per cent and 2.17 per cent.
Trading in U.S. index futures indicated that the Dow Jones Industrial Average could fall by 59 points at the opening bell on Monday.