Morning Bell: Sensex, Nifty cautious amid foreign fund outflows

Equity benchmark BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were trading on a cautious note in the morning trade on Monday following weak cues from Asian peers amid sustained foreign fund outflow. The 30-share index was trading 33.48 points or 0.09 per cent higher at 37,916.27 in the morning trade; while the broader Nifty was slightly lower at 11,279.35, showing a marginal fall of 4.95 points or 0.04 per cent.

In the previous session, the 30-share index closed at 37,882.79, registering a gain of 51.81 points or 0.14 per cent, and the broader NSE Nifty rose 32.15 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 11,284.30.

In early trade, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, TechM, TCS, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank HUL and Axis Bank were among the top gainers, rising up to 2.77 per cent.

On the other hand, M&M, Tata Motors, SBI, Yes Bank, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, ITC, Maruti, HeroMotoCorp, and Bajaj Auto fell up to 3.84 per cent. 

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,503.26 crore Friday, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares to the tune of Rs 1,917.52 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng, Nikkei and Kospi were trading in the red in their respective early sessions.

However, equities on Wall Street ended on a positive note on Friday.

On the currency front, the rupee fell 4 paise to 68.93 against the US dollar in morning trade on Monday.

The global oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.32 per cent lower at 63.26 per barrel.