Sensex falls over 270 points in early trade; Nifty slips below 16,300

NEW DELHI: Equity benchmark Sensex fell over 277 points in opening trade on Thursday, tracking losses in index majors Asian Paints, TCS and HCL Tech amid a negative trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE gauge was trading 277.91 points or 0.51 per cent lower at 54,614.58 in early trade. Likewise, the Nifty declined 76.40 points or 0.47 per cent to 16,279.85.

Asian Paints was the top loser in the Sensex pack, slipping 1.85 per cent, followed by HCL Tech, TCS, UltraTech Cement, Nestle India, HUL and Titan.

On the other hand, Dr Reddy's, Reliance Industries and NTPC were the only gainers. In the previous session, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 214.85 points or 0.39 per cent to close at 54,892.49 in see-saw trade.

The broader NSE Nifty declined 60.10 points or 0.37 per cent to finish at 16,356.25. On Wednesday, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the policy rate on expected lines but sharply raised the inflation forecast for the current fiscal amid geopolitical tensions and supply chain issues.

The RBI raised the key interest rate by 50 basis points, the second increase in five weeks, to rein in inflation that it saw continuing to hurt consumers in the near term.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai were trading with losses in mid-session deals, while Tokyo was in the green.

Stock exchanges in the US closed significantly lower in the overnight session. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.26 per cent to USD 123.90 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 2,484.25 crore on Wednesday, according to stock exchange data.