Sensex drops over 185 pts in early trade; Nifty below 15,400

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Equity benchmark Sensex dropped over 185 points in early trade on Monday, tracking losses in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, Infosys, TCS and Reliance amid a weak trend in the Asian markets. The 30-share BSE index was trading 189.52 points or 0.37 per cent lower at 51,233.36 in initial deals, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 43.20 points or 0.28 per cent to 15,392.45.

M&M was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding more than 5 per cent, followed by Infosys, HDFC, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, L&T, NTPC and HCL Tech. On the other hand, ITC, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank were among the gainers. In the previous session, Sensex ended 307.66 points or 0.60 per cent higher at 51,422.88, and Nifty rose 97.80 points or 0.64 per cent to 15,435.65.

Also read: Sensex, Nifty start on choppy note ahead of F&O expiry

"There are two conflicting pieces of news for the market now. The steadily declining Covid-19 fresh cases continue to be positive. Progressive unlocking has started in many states paving the way for a pick up in economic activity. "But the negative news is rising fresh cases in countries like China & Vietnam. This might impact sentiments for Asian markets in general," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Usually, when markets touch new highs, some consolidation with minor corrections happen even in bull markets. This can happen since Nifty touched new highs last Friday, Vijayakumar said. Auto numbers of May will be very dismal and some market reaction can be expected in this segment. Banking appears to be on a strong wicket in the light of new reliefs announced for the MSME segment, he noted.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they bought shares worth 913.59 crore on Friday, as per provisional exchange data. Equities on Wall Street closed higher in the overnight session. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading in negative territory in mid-session deals. International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.41 per cent higher at USD 69.00 per barrel.

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