Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Friday amid weak trend in global markets and sell-off in IT counters. The 30-share BSE benchmark index fell by 385.38 points to end at 61,413.65 in early trade. The broader NSE Nifty declined by 115.35 points to settle at 18,299.55.
The BSE benchmark Sensex had tanked by 878.88 points or 1.40 percent to settle at 61,799.03 on December 15. The Nifty plummeted by 245.40 points or 1.32 percent to end at 18,414.90. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 710.74 crore on December 15, according to exchange data.
From the Sensex pack, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Infosys, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major laggards.
Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, Power Grid, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank and UltraTech Cement were among the winners.
In Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai were trading lower, while Hong Kong quoted in the green.
The US markets had ended sharply lower on December 15.
International oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.05 percent to USD 81.17 per barrel.
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