Sensex dips 300 pts, Nifty below 19,500; Eicher up 2%

Equity benchmark indices were lower on Monday as investor focus shifted to the October CPI inflation data, slated for release after market hours today. The BSE Sensex fell 270 points to 64,988, and the NSE Nifty50 slipped 68 points to 19,450.

All Sensex stocks opened lower led by losses in Infosys, Kotak Bank, Nestle, Bajaj Finance, Titan and Tata Motors. On the other hand, Eicher Motors, Coal India, BPCL, Divi’s Lab and Hindalco defied weakness and held gains on the Nifty50.

Eicher, with 2.5 per cent gain, was the top Nifty performer after it posted a 55 per cent jump in its Q2 profit to Rs 1,016 crore, beating estimates on Friday.

The broader markets also edged lower. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices slipped by up to 0.44 per cent.

All sectoral indices started lower, except Nifty Pharma, which was up 0.11 per cent. IT, consumer durable and Media pockets led losses of up to 0.8 per cent.