Sensex, Nifty start on a cautious note

Mumbai: Domestic equity benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened on a cautious note on Friday tracking weak global cues, amid sustained foreign fund outflow.

The 30-share index was trading 3.11 points or 0.01 per cent higher at 37,834.09 at 0945 hours; and the broader Nifty was also quoting flat at 11,252.15.

In the previous session, the 30-share index closed at 37,830.98, showing a loss of 16.67 points or 0.04 per cent, and the broader NSE Nifty too shed 19.15 points or 0.17 per cent to settle at 11,252.15.

In early trade, M&M, Tata Motors, SBI, Yes Bank, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints and ITC were among the top gainers, rising up to 2 per cent. On the other hand, Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, TechM, Infosys, TCS, HUL and HDFC twins fell up to 1.84 per cent.

While weak corporate earnings, foreign fund outflow and negative global cues weighed on investor sentiment, hopes of above-average rainfall in the next two weeks capped the losses here, traders said.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 126.65 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares to the tune of Rs 398.53 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed on Thursday.

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

Equities on Wall Street too ended on a negative note on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee depreciated marginally to 69.07 against the US dollar (intra-day).

The global oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.09 per cent higher at 63.45 per barrel.