Sensex falls over 200 points in early trade; Nifty below 17,800 level

A view of the BSE building in Mumbai.

Equity benchmark Sensex declined more than 200 points in early trade on February 6, tracking losses in index-heavyweights Infosys, TCS and HUL amid a broadly negative trend in global markets.

Besides, a weak rupee against major rivals dented the domestic equity market sentiments, traders said.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 203.71 points or 0.33% lower at 60,638.17 points in initial deals. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 64.05 points or 0.36% to 17,790 points.

Infosys was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 1.31%, followed by HUL, Sun Pharma, Nestle India, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank and TCS.

On the other hand, Axis Bank, SBI, ITC, L&T, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv and HDFC Bank were among the gainers.

On Friday, the Sensex surged 909.64 points or 1.52% to settle at 60,841.88 points while the Nifty advanced 243.65 points or 1.38% to end at 17,854.05 points.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul were trading with losses in mid-session deals while Tokyo market was in the positive territory on Feb. 6.

The Wall Street ended lower on Feb. 3.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.25% to $80.14 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in capital markets as they offloaded shares worth ₹932.44 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Investors will also be watching the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy decision later this week.

With retail inflation showing signs of softening and the U.S. Fed moderating the pace of increase in its benchmark interest rate, the RBI is likely to settle for a smaller 25 basis points repo rate hike.