Markets decline in early trade

Mumbai: Stock market indexes fell at the beginning of the week as investors chose to take profits following a recent surge in stock prices. Mixed signals from Asian markets also contributed to the subdued direction in local stocks. 

Starting off with a weak performance, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped even further by 204.39 points to 79,792.21. The NSE Nifty dropped by 40.75 points, reaching 24,283.10.

Within the group of stocks featured in Sensex, Titan, Asian Paints, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, and Maruti were the top underperformers. Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India were some of the companies that saw gains.

Shanghai and Hong Kong were seeing declines in Asian markets while Seoul and Tokyo were trading higher. The US markets closed with profits on Friday.

During a volatile session on Friday, the broader NSE Nifty extended its record-breaking streak and slightly increased by 21.70 points or 0.09 percent to end the day at its all-time high of 24,323.85. The BSE benchmark decreased by 53.07 points or 0.07 percentage to end at 79,996.60.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, experienced a slight 0.09 per cent decline, falling to USD 86.46 per barrel. According to exchange data, on Friday, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased equities totaling Rs 1,241.33 crore.

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