Sensex, Nifty turn choppy on weak global cues, FPI selloff

Mumbai: Benchmark indices opened on a volatile note Tuesday following weak global market cues amid escalating trade tensions between the US and China, and heavy selling by foreign portfolio investors.

The BSE Sensex was trading 31.63 points, or 0.09 per cent, lower at 34,035.77. It had dropped 130.16 points on opening trade. The 30-share index had rallied 718.09 points, or 2.15 per cent, to 34,067.40 in Monday's session.

The NSE Nifty saw similar movement, and was trading 16.50 points, or 0.16 per cent, lower at 10,234.35. The bourse had opened 43.7 points lower.

IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Coal India, Tata Steel, TCS, ITC, NPTC and L&T were among the top losers, falling up to 2 per cent. While, Yes Bank, SBI, M&M, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel and Infosys rose up to 4 per cent.

Global investor sentiment turned volatile after reports that the United States was preparing to announce tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports by early December if talks next month between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping fail to ease the trade war.

Traders also took cues from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who sold shares worth a net of Rs 2,230.79 crore Monday. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,526.90 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

The rupee also witnessed weakness, falling 16 paise to 73.61 against the US dollar in early trade, amid increased demand of the American currencies from importers and sustained foreign fund outflows.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei was trading 1.59 per cent up, Shanghai Composite index rose 0.72 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.04 per cent and Taiwan Weighted was down 0.02 per cent in their early sessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.48 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.19 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.14 per cent in Monday's session.