Sensex drops over 100 points, bank stocks drag

Sensex drops over 100 points, bank stocks drag

Domestic equity benchmark BSE Sensex fell below the 38,000 mark, shedding nearly 100 points in early trade, on July 23 amid heavy foreign fund outflow and weak domestic cues.

The 30-share index was trading 103.50 points or 0.27% lower at 37,927.63 at 0930 hours; and the broader Nifty also fell 28.50 points or 1.25 per cent to 11,317.70.

In the previous session, the 30-share index cracked 305.88 points or 0.80% to settle at 38,031.13, and the broader NSE Nifty sank 82.10 points 0.72% to close at over two-month low of 11,337.15.

In early trade, Yes Bank and HDFC duo were the top losers, slipping up to 2.47%.

Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, SBI, L&T, IndusInd Bank, M&M, ICICI Bank and RIL too fell up to 1.56%.

On the other hand, Kotak Bank, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Finance and NTPC rose up to 1.75%.

According to experts, market has entered a bearish phase amid concerns over an economic slowdown and weak corporate earnings.

Heavy foreign fund outflow and weak monsoon is also hurting investor sentiment here, they said.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth ₹1,916.91 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares to the tune of ₹1,829.90 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed on July 22.

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng, Nikkei and Kospi were trading in the green in their respective early sessions.

Equities on Wall Street too ended on a positive note on July 22.

Meanwhile, the Indian Rupee depreciated 10 paise (intra-day) to 69.03 against the U.S. Dollar.

The global oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading marginally higher at 63.33 per barrel.