Stock markets decline in early trade dragged by blue-chips Reliance, ICICI Bank

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Monday dragged by blue-chips Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank, while sustained foreign fund outflows and global tariff uncertainties also dented investors' sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 320.69 points to 83,249.66 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty went down by 124.60 points to 25,573.40.

From the 30-Sensex firms, ICICI Bank dropped 3 per cent after its consolidated profit for the December quarter declined 2.68 per cent to Rs 12,537.98 crore, hit by an RBI-mandated Rs 1,283-crore provision for agricultural loans wrongly classified as priority sector advances.

On a standalone basis, the country's second-largest lender reported an over 4 per cent decline in the October-December profit at Rs 12,883 crore.

Reliance Industries dipped over 2 per cent after the company on Friday reported almost a flat net profit of Rs 18,645 crore for the third quarter, as a decline in gas production and weakness in its retail business offset gains in other segments.

Sun Pharma, Infosys, Adani Ports and Bharti Airtel were also among the laggards.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 4,346.13 crore on Friday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 3,935.31 crore, according to exchange data.

"Upside is expected to remain capped by persistent FII outflows, global tariff uncertainties and geopolitical concerns, keeping overall risk appetite cautious," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index and Shanghai's SSE Composite index traded higher, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index quoted lower.

"President Trump’s announcement of fresh tariffs on several European nations, with rates set to rise from 10 per cent to 25 per cent by June unless a Greenland deal is reached, added to global jitters," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 0.16 per cent to USD 64.23 per barrel.

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