Samvat 2080 starts on a somber note with Nifty down over a 100 points

• Bajaj Finance, Infosys, ICICI Bank were the major laggards.
• NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma were the top gainers.
• The 50DMA at 19570 remains a stiff challenge, as per market watchers.

Benchmark equity indices, the Nifty and the Sensex, declined in early trade on Monday amid weak trends in Asian markets and unabated foreign fund outflows. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 318.75 points to 64,940.70 in morning trade. The Nifty declined 82.8 points to 19,442.75. At the time of publishing the Nifty, was down over a 100 points in trade.

Nov 12, Sunday, marked the start of Samvat 2080, the new trading year according to the Hindu calendar. The auspicious hour and a half trade, known as Muhurat Trading, saw both the benchmarks close in the green.

Today, among the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Nestle, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Asian Paints were the major laggards.

NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma and Power Grid were the gainers.

Commenting on market technicals, Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said, "The 50DMA at 19570 remains a stiff challenge, until above which, expect buyers to not chase prices higher. This also brings the downside markers forward from 19262/19170 to 19433 or 19370 which would be critical as turnaround points while we play the 19840 trajectory."

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

The US markets ended with significant gains on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.88% to USD 80.71 a barrel.

Stock exchanges conducted a one-hour special Muhurat trading session on the occasion of Diwali on November 12.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 190.06 crore on Sunday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark jumped 354.77 points or 0.55% to settle at 65,259.45 on the first trading session of Samvat 2080 on Sunday. The broader Nifty advanced 100.20 points or 0.52% to 19,525.55.