Sensex, Nifty Fall on Weak Data: Reliance, HDFC Bank Lead Decline

Mumbai, Dec 2 (PTI) Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Monday amid disappointing macroeconomic data and weak trends in frontline stocks, including Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and Tata Consultancy Services.

Foreign fund outflows also dented market sentiment.

The BSE benchmark Sensex tanked 493.84 points to 79,308.95 in early trade. The NSE Nifty declined 122.45 points to 24,008.65.

From the 30-share Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, NTPC and Hindustan Unilever were the biggest laggards.

Maruti, UltraTech Cement, Adani Ports and Tata Motors were among the gainers.

India's economic growth slowed to a near two-year low of 5.4 per cent in the July-September quarter of this fiscal due to poor performance of manufacturing and mining sectors as well as weak consumption, but the country continued to remain the fastest-growing large economy, data showed on Friday.

"The Q2 GDP shocker of 5.4 per cent will weigh on markets but the impact is unlikely to be big since part of the declining growth was factored in by the market after the disappointing Q2 results," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,383.55 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Seoul traded lower while Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted higher.

US markets ended in the positive territory on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.56 per cent to USD 72.24 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark jumped 759.05 points or 0.96 per cent to settle at 79,802.79 on Friday. The Nifty climbed 216.95 points or 0.91 per cent to 24,131.10.