Sensex down by 168 points to open at 59,789; Nifty at 17,826

Market benchmarks declined in early trade on Friday dragged down by index major Reliance Industries and IT counters along with continuous foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 273.21 points to 59,684.82. The broader NSE Nifty slipped 69.75 points to 17,788.45.

From the Sensex pack, HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Wipro, Nestle, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Asian Paints and HDFC were among the major laggards.

HCL Technologies and Infosys fell in early trade after their December quarter earnings announcement.

Infosys on Thursday reported a better-than-expected 13.4 per cent rise in profit for the December quarter and raised its annual sales forecast on a strong deal pipeline even as it warned of “constraints” in certain verticals amid slowing global economy.

HCL Tech on Thursday reported a 19 per cent increase in the consolidated net income to ₹4,096 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2022 driven by growth in services revenue.

Meanwhile, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement and Power Grid were among the winners from the 30-share pack.

“The only negative catalyst which can haunt the market is FIIs relentless selling,” said Prashanth Tapse – Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth ₹1,662.63 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the green, while Tokyo quoted lower.

Markets in the US had ended in the positive territory on Thursday.

In a double delight, retail inflation in December eased to a one-year low of 5.72 per cent – staying below the upper tolerance limit for two months in a row, while factory output in November rose sharply to 7.1 per cent on the back of healthy growth in manufacturing.

International oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.33 per cent to USD 83.74 per barrel.

The Sensex had declined 147.47 points or 0.25 per cent to settle at 59,958.03 on Thursday. The Nifty fell 37.50 points or 0.21 per cent to 17,858.20.