Stock market update: Markets fall in early trade amid foreign fund outflows

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Market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Wednesday amid unabated foreign fund outflows and tracking a weak trend in global markets.

The BSE Sensex went down by 240.75 points to 81,579.37 in early trade. The NSE Nifty declined 62.7 points to 24,994.65.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nestle, UltraTech Cement, Tata Consultancy Services, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank were the major laggards.

HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints and Sun Pharma were among the gainers.

"Market sentiment remained cautious with foreign investors selling Rs 63,900 crore in October," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said while speaking on the Stock market update, reported PTI.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,748.71 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Tokyo traded lower, while Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted in the positive territory.

The US markets ended lower on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.23 per cent to USD 74.42 a barrel.

On Tuesday, the BSE benchmark declined 152.93 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 81,820.12. The Nifty settled lower by 70.60 points or 0.28 per cent to 25,057.35.

Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar in early trade

The rupee witnessed range-bound trade and depreciated 3 paise to 84.07 against the US dollar in initial deals on Wednesday, weighed down by significant foreign fund outflows and the strength of the American currency in the overseas market.

Forex traders said the rupee is likely to trade in a narrow range during the day as a strong dollar and a muted tone in the domestic equities weighed on the local unit, while weak crude oil prices and any intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may also support the local currency at lower levels.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 84.03 against the greenback. In the initial trade, it touched 84.07, registering a fall of 3 paise over its previous close.