Sensex, Nifty start on a cautious note

Mumbai: Domestic equity benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened on a choppy note Wednesday amid weak global cues and continued foreign fund outflow.

The 30-share index was trading 4.40 points, or 0.01 per cent, lower at 39,126.64 at 0930 hours, while the broader Nifty inched 2.20 points, or 0.02 per cent, higher to 11,664.80.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Kotak Bank, TechM, Asian Paints, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance and Yes Bank, rising up to 1.32 per cent.

On the other hand, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti, Sun Pharma, TCS and Infosys fell up to 1.27 per cent.

In the previous session, the 30-share gauge closed at 39,131.04 points, showing a rise of 234.33 points or 0.60 per cent; while the Nifty ended 74.25 points or 0.64 per cent up at 11,662.60.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 444.99 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares to the tune of Rs 637.71 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed Tuesday.

According to traders, investors are cautious ahead of key earnings, amid weak cues from other global markets and unabated foreign fund outflow.

Mindtree, Wipro, Yes Bank, Tata Elxsi and Dhanlakshmi Bank are among a few companies which will report June quarter results later in the day.

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng, Nikkei and Kospi were trading in the red in their respective early sessions.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee depreciated 7 paise (intra-day) to 68.79 against the US dollar.

The global oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.26 per cent higher at 64.52 per barrel.