Markets fall as trade deal uncertainty, foreign fund outflows weigh on investors' sentiment

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty fell in early trade on Tuesday, extending their downward journey to the fourth day running, amid uncertainty related to the India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 270.77 points to 80,620.25 in opening trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped 71.25 points to 24,609.65.

From the Sensex firms, Eternal, Infosys, Bharat Electronics, ICICI Bank and Asian Paints were among the biggest laggards.

However, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel and Trent were among the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 6,082.47 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

"There are more headwinds than tailwinds for the market now. The major issue weighing on markets is that the expected trade deal between India and the US has not happened so far and the probability of a deal before the August 1 deadline is becoming lower. Sustained FII selling is impacting the market despite the DIIs (Domestic Institutional Investors) buying," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded lower while South Korea's Kospi quoted in positive territory.

The US markets ended on a mixed note on Monday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude traded 0.04 per cent up at USD 70.07 a barrel.

Stock markets declined for the third day on Monday. The Sensex tanked 572.07 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 80,891.02 on Monday. The Nifty declined 156.10 points or 0.63 per cent to 24,680.90.