Sensex eases as April series sees shaky start

The BSE Sensex fell about 73 points to trade at 29,575 in early trade of the last session of 2016-17 as the April derivatives series started on a negative note amid a mixed trend in the global market.

The 30-share index dropped by 72.53 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 29,574.89, with stocks of banking, technology, FMCG, IT, auto, healthcare, power and auto hitting a soft patch.

The barometer had soared 410.27 points in the previous three sessions on optimism surrounding the GST amid sustained foreign capital inflows.

The NSE Nifty was down 9.35 points, or 0.10 per cent, at 9,164.40.

The ones that lagged were HDFC Bank, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, TCS, HDFC Ltd, Cipla and Tata Motors.

Emergence of profit—booking in recent gainers despite the beginning of the April futures and options series snapped the three—day winning run.

Furthermore, a mixed trend prevailed in Asia as investors brushed aside a positive lead from the US market and improvement in Chinese factory activity.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.48 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.66 per cent in early trade today.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.33 per cent higher on Thursday