Sensex falls over 200 points in early trade; Nifty below 15,000

MUMBAI: Equity benchmark Sensex dropped over 200 points in opening trade on Monday tracking losses in index majors HDFC, ITC and L&T amid tepid cues from global markets.

After dropping to 50,685.42, the 30-share BSE index pared most losses to trade 65.13 points or 0.13 per cent lower at 50,824.63. After a similar movement, the broader NSE Nifty was quoting 8.40 points or 0.06 per cent down at 14,973.35.

L&T was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by M&M, Dr Reddy's, Maruti, HDFC, TCS and Bajaj Auto.

On the other hand, ONGC, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra and Infosys were among the gainers. In the previous session, Sensex ended 434.93 points or 0.85 per cent lower at 50,889.76, and Nifty gave up the 15,000 level, dropping 137.20 points or 0.91 per cent to 14,981.75.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 118.75 crore on Friday, as per exchange data.

"As the last week of trading in February begins, there are some negative signals and news. The rise in the US 10-year bond yield to 1.36 per cent reflects the markets' concern about a potential rise in inflation," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Back home, the escalation in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra is emerging as a cause of concern, he said, adding that these concerns have impacted FPI flows to the market which, though positive, appears to be slowing down.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Seoul were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals, while Hong Kong and Tokyo were in the red.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.06 per cent higher at USD 62.80 per barrel.