Market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty edged lower in early deals on Thursday due to surging crude oil prices amid escalating tensions in West Asia.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 230.95 points to 76,521.02 during initial trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped 57.15 points to 23,937.
From the Sensex pack, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, NTPC and Reliance Industries were among the laggards.
Trent and Eternal were the only winners from the pack.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, quoted 2.27 per cent higher at USD 96.20 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 819.2 crore on Wednesday after a day’s breather, according to exchange data.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s KOSPI jumped 3.15 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index were also trading higher, while Shanghai’s SSE Composite index quoted lower.
US markets ended in negative territory on Wednesday.
