Sensex drops 115 points in early trade tracking losses in RIL, Maruti, & Tata Motors

• Sensex dropped nearly 115 points in early trade on Thursday.
  
  
• Weak rupee and persistent foreign capital outflows impacted domestic equity market sentiments, traders said.
  
  
• Maruti was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 1.31%, followed by Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv, SBI, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank and Reliance Industries.

Mumbai, Equity benchmark Sensex dropped nearly 115 points in early trade on Thursday tracking losses in index heavyweights Maruti, Tata Motors and Reliance industries amid mixed global cues. Besides, a weak rupee against major rivals and persistent foreign capital outflows impacted domestic equity market sentiments, traders said.

In a volatile trade, the 30-share BSE index was trading 113.77 points or 0.19 per cent lower at 60,550.02 in early deals. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 63.70 points or 0.36 per cent to 17,808.

Maruti was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 1.31 per cent, followed by Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv, SBI, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, L&T, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, PowerGrid and TCS were the major gainers.

Meanwhile, shares of Adani Power fell 5 per cent to 172.90 apiece on BSE in early deals, after the company on Wednesday reported a 96 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 8.77 crore for the December quarter.

Edible oil major Adani Wilmar Ltd edged lower by 1.79 per cent to 411.85 per scrip, despite the company reporting a 16 per cent increase in its consolidated profit to Rs 246.16 crore for the third quarter ended December 2022.

Adani Group's flagship Adani Enterprises was trading 5.56 per cent down at Rs 2038.55 apiece on BSE.

According to the RBI, domestic banks' exposure to the Adani Group is "not very significant", and the system is strong and large enough to not get impacted by a single case.

Meanwhile, France's TotalEnergies has put on hold a planned investment in Adani Group's USD 50 billion hydrogen project pending results of an audit launched following allegations by a US short-seller, chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 377.75 points or 0.63 per cent to close at 60,663.79 and the broader Nifty of the NSE spurted by 150.20 points or 0.85 per cent to settle at 17,871.70, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals while the Tokyo market closed in the negative territory.

Equities on Wall Street ended significantly lower in the overnight trade.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent slipped 0.11 per cent to USD 85 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 736.82 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

RBI projected India's economic growth at 6.4 per cent for 2023-24, broadly in line with the estimate of the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament last week.

It also estimated retail inflation to ease to 5.3 per cent in the next fiscal from 6.5 per cent this year on assumptions of lower imported inflation, even though core inflation remains sticky.

The RBI's decision to hike the repo rate by 25 basis points was on expected lines but the policy focuses more on inflation despite the recent moderation in the number, bankers said on Wednesday.

Analysts are of the view that after delivering the seventh hawkish policy on Wednesday, the central bank may pause after delivering a likely 25 basis points increase in the April review.