Sensex, Nifty turn choppy in early trade, HCL Tech rallies 4 per cent

Domestic equity benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were trading on a choppy note early Friday amid uncertainty over US-China trade deal and continued foreign fund outflow. After opening over 150 points higher, the 30-share index turned cautious and fell 17.32 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 37,541.59. The broader NSE Nifty was trading below the 11,300 level at 11,285.75.

In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE bourse closed 230.22 points, or 0.61 per cent, down at 37,558.91, and the broader NSE Nifty shed 57.65 points, or 0.51 per cent, to settle at 11,301.80.

Among the top losers in early session were HCL Tech, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, HUL, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, L&T, Kotak Bank, ITC and Sun Pharma, shedding up to 4.31 per cent.

On the other hand, RIL, Tata Motors, HDFC twins, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and TCS were the top gainers, rising up to 1.04 per cent.            

According to traders, investors were cautious ahead of the outcome of the 11^th round of talks aimed at ending the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Trump on Thursday accused China of trying to renegotiate a trade deal that has been negotiated after months of efforts and asserted he will not let that happen.

However, he said last night he received a “very beautiful letter” from the Chinese President Xi Jinping, and that it is possible that the US and China will enter into a trade deal.

Meanwhile, the Trump Administration Friday imposed increased tariffs on import of Chinese products over USD 200 billion worth from 10 per cent to 25 per cent.

Sustained foreign fund outflow too weighed on investor sentiment here, traders said.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equity worth Rs 655.36 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares to the tune of Rs 677.91 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading higher in early trade.

On Wall Street, S&P500 and Nasdaq Composite indices ended lower on Thursday.

On the currency front, the rupee depreciated 7 paise to 70.01 against the US dollar.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading 0.33 per cent lower at USD 70.62 per barrel.