Stock markets fall in early trade amid geopolitical tensions, foreign fund outflows

New Delhi: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty drifted lower in early trade on Wednesday as heightened geopolitical tensions, weak global markets and persistent foreign fund outflows rattled investors' sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 385.82 points to 81,794.65 in opening trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 91.5 points to 25,141.

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From the 30-Sensex firms, Bharat Electronics, ICICI Bank, Trent, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Tech and Infosys were among the laggards.

However, Eternal, Sun Pharma, InterGlobe Aviation and Tata Steel were among the gainers.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 2,938.33 crore on Tuesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 3,665.69 crore, according to exchange data.

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

US markets ended sharply lower on Tuesday. The Nasdaq Composite index tumbled 2.39 percent, S&P 500 dropped by 2.06 percent and Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 1.76 percent.

"US equity markets closed sharply lower overnight, with the S&P 500 slipping 2 percent and the Nasdaq plunging close to 2.5 percent, marking the worst single-day fall since October. The global sell-off was triggered by renewed trade-war concerns after President Trump escalated tariff threats on select European nations opposing US control over Greenland, with proposed duties rising from 10 percent in February to 25 percent by June," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

Renewed US tariff threats, coupled with persistent foreign investor selling, continue to weigh heavily on market sentiment, he added.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dropped 1.11 percent to USD 64.19 per barrel.

On Tuesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,065.71 points or 1.28 percent to settle at 82,180.47. The Nifty tanked 353 points or 1.38 percent to end at 25,232.50.

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