Markets begin week in red; Sensex opens at over 55,800, Nifty at 16,650

Benchmark indices fell in early trade on Monday with the BSE Sensex declining over 255 points, largely dragged down by Reliance Industries and weak global equity markets.

The 30-share BSE benchmark fell 255.39 points to 55,816.84 in early trade. The broader NSE Nifty dipped 70.35 points to 16,649.10.

Among the Sensex constituents, Reliance Industries fell the most by over 3 per cent despite the company reporting 46 per cent jump in June quarter net profit.

The other laggards from the pack were Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Nestle, HDFC, UltraTech Cement, NTPC and ITC.

IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Tata Steel were among the gainers.

Shares of ICICI Bank were trading 1 per cent higher post announcement of its June quarter earnings.

ICICI Bank on Saturday reported a 55.04 per cent jump in June quarter consolidated net profit to ₹7,384.53 crore, helped by a sharp reduction in provisions and strong core interest income.

“RIL’s results, though impressive on the telecom and retail front, fell slightly below expectations in the refining space. ICICI Bank’s results are the best in the banking segment,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

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

The US markets had ended on a lower note on Friday.

The BSE benchmark had jumped 390.28 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 56,072.23 on Friday. The Nifty climbed 114.20 points or 0.69 per cent to 16,719.45.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.53 per cent to USD 102.70 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth ₹675.45 crore on Friday, as per exchange data.