Stock market update: Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Thursday amid weak trends in Asian markets and unabated foreign fund outflows. In the early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 138.42 points to 76,270.96. Meanwhile, the Nifty also declined 50.15 points to 23,105.20.
UltraTech Cement and HDFC Bank led the gainers on the BSE, while HUL and Nestle were among the top laggards. On the NSE, UltraTech Cement and Wipro posted gains, with HUL and Nestle once again being the top losers.
Broader markets showed a mixed performance, with Nifty SmallCap down by 0.17% and Nifty MidCap trading 0.14% lower. Sector-wise, Nifty IT emerged as the top gainer, up by 1%, while Nifty FMCG was the biggest loser, declining by 1%.
Investor sentiment today is likely to be influenced by the December quarter results from key players such as UltraTech Cement and Dr Reddy’s, which are expected to dominate market attention.