Market Opens in Red, Sensex Drops over 185 Pts

The domestic stock market had a negative opening as Sensex dropped over 185 points in early trade on Monday, tracking losses in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, ICICI Bank, SBI, and Bajaj Finance.

Sensex was trading at 52,285.87 in initial deals, lower by 188.89 points or 0.36 per cent. The broader NSE Nifty fell 80.65 points or 0.51 per cent to 15,718.70.

Bajaj Finance shed 1.65 per cent and was the top loser in the Sensex pack, followed by NTPC, SBI, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy’s and HDFC twins.

Infosys, Reliance, TCS, Bajaj Auto and ONGC were the gainers.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 174.29 points or 0.33 per cent up at its new closing high of 52,474.76. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 61.60 points or 0.39 per cent to its lifetime peak of 15,799.35.

India logged the lowest single-day Covid-19 case rise in 72 days. It recorded 70,421 new cases, taking the country's infection tally to 2,95,10,410, while the count of active cases fell below 10 lakh after over two months. 

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers, purchasing shares worth Rs 18.64 crore on Friday, as per provisional exchange data.

Rupee slips 14 paise to 73.21 against the US dollar in early trade.

Asian markets were mixed, as stocks in Tokyo were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals, while Seoul was in the red.

Markets in China and Hong Kong were closed on Monday for holidays. 

US stocks closed at a new high in the previous session.

Dow Jones rose 0.04 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.19 per cent and Nasdaq Composite added 0.35 per cent.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.45 per cent higher at $73.02 per barrel.