Markets fall in early trade dragged by IT stocks, weak trends from Asian peers

Benchmark equity indices in Mumbai plummeted on Friday, erasing two days of gains due to IT stock declines, negative trends in Asian markets, and ongoing foreign fund outflows. Sensex dropped 413.36 points to 72,227.83, while Nifty fell 86.8 points to 21,925.15. IT stocks like HCL Technologies, Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and Tata Consultancy Services experienced major losses. Despite this, Sun Pharma, Titan, Bharti Airtel, and ITC managed to see gains. Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,826.97 crore. Oil prices also declined, with Brent crude dropping to USD 85.17 a barrel.

Benchmark equity indices tanked in early trade on Friday, surrendering their two days of rally, dragged down by IT stocks, weak trends from Asian markets and continuous foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 413.36 points to 72,227.83. The NSE Nifty skidded 86.8 points to 21,925.15.

From the Sensex basket, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Motors were the major laggards.

The BSE IT index fell by 2.85 per cent in the early trade.

Sun Pharma, Titan, Bharti Airtel and ITC were among the gainers.

''IT is likely to remain under pressure in view of the poor guidance from Accenture,'' said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were quoting lower while Tokyo traded in the positive territory.

Wall Street ended with gains on Thursday.

''IT stocks may see a slowdown following Accenture's revised revenue forecast,'' Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said in his pre-opening market comment.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,826.97 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.71 per cent to USD 85.17 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark jumped 539.50 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 72,641.19 on Thursday. The NSE Nifty climbed 172.85 points or 0.79 per cent to 22,011.95.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)