Mumbai, 17 Feb

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Monday as persistent foreign fund outflows from the Indian equity markets and slowdown in corporate earnings continued to hurt investors' sentiment.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex dropped 297.8 points to 75,641.41 in opening trade. The NSE Nifty declined 119.35 points to 22,809.90.

Later, both the benchmark indices fell further. The BSE bellwether gauge traded 476.70 points lower at 75,470.18, while the Nifty quoted 146.80 points down at 22,782.45.

From the Sensex, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and ICICI Bank were the biggest laggards.

Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, Tata Motors and IndusInd Bank were among the gainers.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,294.69 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

The total outflow by FPIs has reached Rs 99,299 crore -- near Rs 1 lakh crore -- in 2025 so far, data with the depositories showed. FPIs pulled out Rs 21,272 crore in the first two weeks of this month, driven by global tensions after the US imposed tariffs on imports. This came following a net outflow of Rs 78,027 crore in January.

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

US markets ended mostly lower on Friday.

The Indian stock market is underperforming this year with the Nifty delivering negative 3.4 per cent returns vis-a-vis 4.19 per cent returns in S&P 500 and 11.7 per cent returns in Europe, VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said.

"The basic reason for this underperformance is the sharp slowdown in corporate earnings this year. Q3 results indicate only around 7 per cent earnings growth. The fact is that a modest single-digit earnings growth doesn’t deserve high valuations. This is the basic reason behind the relentless FII selling which has impacted the market. Appreciating dollars aggravated the problem," he added.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude traded 0.05 per cent higher at USD 74.78 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark dropped 199.76 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 75,939.21 on Friday. The Nifty declined 102.15 points or 0.44 per cent to 22,929.25.

In the last eight trading days, the BSE benchmark tanked 2,644.6 points or 3.36 per cent, and the Nifty slumped 810 points or 3.41 per cent.