Sensex Slips 95 Pts in Early Trade; Nifty Hovers at 16,600

Equity benchmark Sensex dropped over 95 points in early trade on Friday, tracking losses in index majors HDFC twins, Infosys and ICICI Bank amid unabated foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share index was trading 96.18 points or 0.17 per cent lower at 55,852.92. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 23.70 points or 0.14 per cent to 16,613.20.

M&M was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 1 per cent, followed by HDFC, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Infosys and IndusInd Bank.

On the other hand, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance and Bharti Airtel were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the BSE index ended just 4.89 points or 0.01 per cent higher at 55,949.10. And the broader NSE Nifty advanced 2.25 points or 0.01 per cent to its fresh closing peak of 16,636.90.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,974.48 crore on Thursday, as per provisional exchange data.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry has declared that the number of active Covid-19 cases in the country has increased to 3,44,899. A single-day rise of 44,658 new infections, and 496 fatalities has pushed India's tally of cases to 3,26,03,188, and death toll to 4,36,861.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Tokyo was in the red.

Equities in the US ended on a negative note in the overnight session.