Sensex stays cautious, falls 59 points ahead of Budget

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell some 59 points in early trade today on reduced bets by cautious retail investors amid continued capital outflows by foreign funds ahead of the Budget 2016-17 to be announced later in the day.

The 30-share BSE index, which had rebounded 178.30 points in the previous session on Friday after the Economic Survey projected 7-7.75 per cent growth for 2016-17, tripped 58.60 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 23,095.70.

Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty was trading lower by 23.60 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 7,006.15.

Brokers said off-loading of bets by retail investors, continued foreign outflows ahead of the Budget and a mixed trend at other Asian bourses dampened sentiment here.

Sectoral indices led by FMCG, auto, consumer durables, capital goods and oil and gas were trading in the negative zone with losses of up to 1.09 per cent.

Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.41 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.91 per cent in early trade today. The Shanghai Composite index fell 2.98 per cent.