Mumbai: Equity benchmarks went lower in early trade on Friday amid weak trend in the US markets and decline in shares of index major Reliance Industries. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 107.59 points to 60,750.84 in early trade despite a positive beginning. The broader NSE Nifty went lower by 29 points to 18,078.85.
The Sensex had declined 187.31 by points or 0.31 percent to settle at 60,858.43 on January 19. The Nifty had dipped by 57.50 points or 0.32 percent to end at 18,107.85.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets and they bought shares worth Rs 399.98 crore, according to exchange data.
From the Sensex pack, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, Asian Paints, Titan, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Maruti and Bajaj Finance were the major laggards.
FMCG major Hindustan Unilever fell nearly three percent in initial trade even after reporting a 7.9 percent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,481 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2022.
IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Tata Motors and State Bank of India were the gainers.
In Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong traded in the green.
Markets in the US had ended lower on January 19.
International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.55 percent to USD 86.63 per barrel.
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