Stock markets trade lower in early deals on foreign fund outflows, weak global trends

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Monday in-tandem with a weak trend in global markets and persistent foreign fund outflows.

Also, uncertainty over an India-US trade deal weighed on investors' sentiment, analysts said.

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The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 384.39 points to 84,883.27 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty edged lower by 122.9 points to 25,924.05.

From the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Trent, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv and Power Grid were among the major laggards.

However, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Bharat Electronics and Tata Steel were the gainers.

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

US markets ended lower on Friday.

"Globally, Asian markets are trading lower this morning, led by weakness across Japan and South Korea, as investors turn cautious ahead of key economic data releases from China and the US. US equities closed lower on Friday, while Nasdaq futures continue to signal stress within tech-heavy segments," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 3,868.94 crore, according to exchange data.

"A major drag on the market continues to be the elusive US-India trade deal which is impacting India’s exports to the US, widening of trade deficit and continuous depreciation in the rupee," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 0.52 percent to USD 61.43 per barrel.

On Friday, the Sensex climbed 449.53 points or 0.53 percent to settle at 85,267.66. The Nifty surged 148.40 points or 0.57 percent to 26,046.95.

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