Opening Bell: Sensex drops over 150 points, Nifty below 11,800-mark

Domestic equity benchmark BSE Sensex fell over 150 points and the NSE Nifty slipped below the 11,800 mark in early trade Monday tracking dragged down by losses in index heavyweight RIL, ITC and HDFC stocks. The 30-share index was trading 175.29 points, or 0.44 per cent, lower at 39,276.78 at 0930 hours. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty was quoting 50.20 points, or 0.42 per cent, down at  11,773.10.

In the previous session on Friday, the BSE gauge settled 289.29 points, or 0.73 per cent, lower at 39,452.07, and the broader NSE Nifty tumbled 90.75 points, or 0.76 per cent, to close at 11,823.30. Top losers in the Sensex pack in early trade included Vedanta, Tata Steel, RIL, Coal India, Axis Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors and Kotak Bank, shedding up to 2 per cent.

On the other hand, Yes Bank, Infosys, PowerGrid, NTPC and TCS rose up to 1 per cent. "Current formation of the market is indicating that major participants of the market are turning cautious ahead of the major outcome of Fed's decision, which is due on 19th June 2019," said Ashish Nanda EVP & Business Head - PCG, Commodities and Currency Business, Kotak Securities.

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US indices are trading at resistance levels, which is an indication of weakness to persist. Elsewhere in Asia, while Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng, Nikkei and Kospi were trading on a mixed note in their respective early sessions.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors sold equity worth Rs 238.64 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought shares to the tune of Rs 376.47 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed on Friday.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee depreciated 6 paise to 69.86 against the US dollar. The global oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.31 per cent higher at 62.20 per barrel.