Indian Stock Market Falls: Sensex Drops 215 Points to 72,257, Nifty Slips to 22,518

Indian equity markets opened lower on Thursday as continued foreign capital outflows weighed on investor sentiment. The decline, however, remained limited as crude oil prices eased and traded below the USD 100-per-barrel mark.
The BSE Sensex fell 215 points in early trading to 72,257.30, while the NSE Nifty declined 107.25 points to 22,518.90.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, shares of Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, UltraTech Cement, Bharat Electronics, Eternal and Asian Paints were among the major decliners.
On the other hand, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services and Axis Bank were trading higher during the early session.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s KOSPI and Japan’s Nikkei 225 were trading with gains. US markets had closed lower on Wednesday.
Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, declined 0.92 per cent in futures trading to USD 97.13 per barrel.
According to stock market data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 10,148.41 crore on Wednesday. The Sensex had closed 48.78 points lower and the Nifty had declined 95.75 points in the previous session.
Rupee slips three paise to 95.97 against US dollar
The Indian rupee also came under pressure in early trade on Thursday, weakening three paise to 95.97 per US dollar while moving in a narrow range.
Forex dealers attributed the pressure partly to continued dollar demand from state-owned oil companies. The rupee opened at 95.95 per dollar in the interbank foreign exchange market before slipping to 95.97.
Dealers said dollar sales by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the spot and futures markets helped limit the rupee’s decline, keeping the exchange rate below the 96.00 level.
Continued foreign capital outflows and stronger US bond yields also weighed on the domestic currency, according to foreign exchange dealers.
The rupee had surrendered its early gains on Wednesday to end unchanged at 95.94 per US dollar.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index, which measures the American currency against six major global currencies, rose 0.09 per cent to 101.54.