Sensex, Nifty turn choppy amid weak global cues

After falling over 100 points in opening session, the 30-share index was trading 40.01 points, or 0.10 per cent, lower at 39,709.72. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 8.85 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 11,919.90

Domestic equity benchmarks opened on a negative note on Wednesday amid weak global cues and fresh foreign fund outflow.

After falling over 100 points in opening session, the 30-share index was trading 40.01 points, or 0.10 per cent, lower at 39,709.72. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 8.85 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 11,919.90.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE gauge closed 66.44 points, or 0.17 per cent, higher at 39,749.73 -- its all-time closing high; while the NSE benchmark Nifty logged a marginal rise of 4 points or 0.03 per cent to settle at 11,928.75 -- a new closing peak for the index.

Top losers in the Sensex pack include SBI, Vedanta, ICICI Bank, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Maruti and Kotak Bank, slipping up to 2 per cent.

While, TCS, HCL Tech, PowerGrid, Infosys, Yes Bank, M&M, L&T, HDFC Bank, NTPC, ITC, HUL and Axis Bank rose up to 1.56 per cent.

According to traders, market turned choppy tracking weak cues from global markets and fresh selling of equities by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

FII sold equity worth ₹ 501.11 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares to the tune of ₹ 269.22 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in China, Japan and Korea were trading on a negative note in their respective early sessions.

Benchmarks on Wall Street too ended in the red in Tuesday’s session.

On the currency front, the rupee depreciated 14 paise to 69.83 against the US dollar.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, slipped 0.74 per cent to 68.16 per barrel.