Nifty, Sensex in the red for 2nd day running tracking weak global cues

• Wipro has slipped nearly 4% after the IT services company reported an almost flat consolidated net profit.
• Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Power Grid are the top laggards in morning trade.
• IndusInd Bank and ITC are the top gainers.

Equity benchmark indices, the Nifty and the Sensex, declined in early trade on Thursday, falling for the second day running, amid weak trends in global markets and fresh foreign fund outflows. Disappointing earnings from IT services company Wipro also dragged the benchmarks lower.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 490.44 points to 65,386.58. The Nifty fell 137.5 points to 19,533.60.

Among the Sensex firms, Wipro fell by nearly 4% after the IT services company reported an almost flat consolidated net profit at Rs 2,667.3 crore for the September quarter, trailing street expectations, and projected up to 3.5% fall in revenue in the current quarter on weak global economic outlook and uncertain business environment.

Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Power Grid, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the other major laggards.

IndusInd Bank and ITC were the gainers. An ET report says that IndusInd Bank, as per the latest shareholding data, has a high probability of being included in the MSCI index during the November review.

Commenting about the key levels to watch out for, Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research at Kotak Securities said, "Our view is that, as long as the index trades below 19,800/66,350, the weak sentiment will likely continue. Below that the market may slip to 19,600-19,500/65,600-65,450. On the other hand, if the index overcomes the intraday resistance of 19,720/66,000, a minor pullback rally is possible, we could see a quick intraday rally till 19,780-19,850/66,300-66,500. If the markets are stronger then it can not break the levels of 19,600."

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the negative territory.

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.52% to USD 91.02 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,831.84 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

"Investors face various pressing concerns, including divestment by foreign institutional investors, the Israel-Palestine conflict, lacklustre corporate performance, rising US treasury yields, and an upcoming speech by Jerome Powell (Fed Chair)," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

The BSE benchmark had plunged 551.07 points or 0.83% to settle at 65,877.02 on Wednesday. The Nifty declined 140.40 points or 0.71% to 19,671.10.

(With text input from PTI)