Sensex down by 150 points; Nifty slips below 17,700 — Reliance Industries, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, Maruti, Bajaj Auto and Axis Bank top losers

Equity benchmark Sensex dropped over 150 points in early trade on Thursday, tracking losses in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank amid sustained foreign fund outflow.

The 30-share Sensex was trading 178.60 points or 0.30 per cent lower at 59,234.67. Similarly, the Nifty declined 49.15 points or 0.28 per cent to 17,662.15.

Reliance Industries was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 1 per cent, followed by PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, Maruti, Bajaj Auto and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, Dr Reddy's, Tata Steel, L&T, NTPC, Bharti Airtel and HUL were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the 30-share index closed 254.33 points or 0.43 per cent lower at 59,413.27, and Nifty declined 37.30 points or 0.21 per cent to 17,711.30.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,896.02 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.

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

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.27 per cent to USD 77.88 per barrel.

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