Sensex, Nifty Tumble in Early Trade on Weak Global Cues

Sensex and Nifty saw significant declines as profit-taking ensued following recent record highs, compounded by global sell-offs. Key stocks like Reliance and ICICI Bank led the downturn, with Sensex dropping 640.13 points and Nifty falling 271.40 points in early trade.

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled in early trade on Friday as investors rushed to book profits after record-breaking rallies in the past few sessions as well as tracking cues from global sell-offs. Massive selling in bellwether stocks like Reliance and ICICI Bank also dragged the investors' sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 640.13 points to trade at 81,227.42 in the morning trade. The NSE Nifty declined 271.40 points to 24,739.50. Both the indices slumped up to 1 per cent during early deals. From the Sensex pack, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, and Tech Mahindra were the laggards.

HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Nestle India and ITC were among the gainers. "The rally in India has been sustained more by money flows into the market than by fundamentals. Without fundamental support, the rally cannot be sustained. It remains to be seen whether the buy-on-dips strategy will work this time too. Since valuations are high some profit booking, particularly in mid and small caps, can be considered," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.78 per cent to USD 80.14 a barrel. In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading lower. The US stock market also ended lower on Thursday after a record rally.

Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 2,089.28 crore in the capital markets on Thursday. The 30-share Sensex climbed 126.21 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at a new lifetime high of 81,867.55, while NSE Nifty rose 59.75 points or 0.24 per cent to settle at an all-time closing peak of 25,010.90.

A monthly survey released on Thursday showed India's manufacturing sector growth eased slightly in July, on softer increases in new orders and output, while cost pressures and demand strength led to the steepest increase in selling prices since October 2013.

The government's GST collections in July rose 10.3 per cent to over Rs 1.82 lakh crore, mainly driven by domestic transactions in goods and services, according to official data released on Thursday.