Sensex drops over 250 pts in early trade; Nifty slips below 15,700

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Equity benchmark Sensex dropped over 250 points in early trade on Wednesday, tracking losses in index majors HDFC twins, Reliance Industries and Infosys amid a negative trend in global markets. The 30-share BSE index was trading 259.75 points or 0.49 per cent lower at 52,319.01 in initial deals, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 77.15 points or 0.49 per cent to 15,669.30. Nestle India was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 1 per cent, followed by Dr Reddy's, HDFC twins, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, TCS, Reliance Industries and Infosys.

On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel and HUL were among the gainers. In the previous session, Sensex ended 273.51 points or 0.52 per cent lower at 52,578.76, and Nifty fell 78 points or 0.49 per cent to 15,746.45. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,459.08 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional exchange data. According to VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, there is a mild risk-off sentiment in equity markets globally as reflected in the rising dollar.

Also read: Sensex rises over 150 pts in early trade; Nifty tops 15,850

"The selloff in Chinese tech stocks on Beijing''s regulatory crackdown has triggered concerns about whether this selloff will spread to other segments. China is too big now. It can cause flutters in global markets," he said. A significant trend in the market now is sectoral shifts, he noted, adding that there has been across the board selling in pharma stocks in the previous session. "Profits booked in this segment are moving into other sectors. The relative outperformance in frontline financials indicates a sectoral shift." Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading with losses in mid-session deals. Equities on Wall Street too ended on a negative note in overnight sessions. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude advanced 0.54 per cent to USD 73.92 per barrel.

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