Sensex opens slightly low as investors anticipate retail inflation

MUMBAI: The equity market continued with losses on Monday morning as domestic investors anticipate lower retail inflation.

In global markets too, investors await inflation data updates, which are expected anytime this week, from both the US and UK.

The markets here had opened with slight gains but soon after witnessing volatility and weak cues from global markets dragged down the stocks.

India's retail inflation during December was at 5.72 per cent, against 5.88 per cent in November, according to data released by the ministry of statistics.

It was 6.77 per cent during October.

Domestic key indices BSE Sensex declined 187 points to 60,495.60 and NSE Nifty lost 44 points to 17,812.20 at 9.40 am on Monday.

Among the most active stocks, Dishman Carbogen, Ingersoll-Rand, Oil India, Galaxy Surfactants and Tata Teleservices were the some of the gainers while Balkrishna, Dhani, EKI Energy Services and City Union Bank were some of the laggards on BSE.

Adani Group firms continue to lose in the morning trade on Monday. Shares of Adani Enterprises went up 0.24 per cent to Rs 1,851.70 apiece, Adani Ports went down 0.16 per cent to Rs 583.10 apiece, Adani Green lost 5 per cent to Rs 688.05 while shares of Adani Wilmar went down 2.50 per cent to Rs 425.40 apiece on Monday morning.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was down 316 points, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declines 123 points while China's Shanghai surged 18 points on Monday morning. In American markets, Dow Jones moved up 169 points, Nasdaq lost 319 points, NYSE went up 82 points while S&P 500 surged 8 points.

In European markets, Deutsche Borse lost 215 points, CAC 40 and Amsterdam Exchange were trading in the green while FTSE 100 was down 28 points as Asian markets opened on Monday morning.

Reserve Bank of India's Governor Shaktikanta Das recently said that inflation has been moderating in the country on account of lower vegetable prices.

However, he also added that core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, remains an area of concern.

Inflation remained above the RBI's upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent for the first 10 months of 2022, but fell sharply in November and December.