Nifty, Sensex Fall 1% As RIL, TCS, L&T Drag; Nifty IT Down Over 2%

Shares in the Asian-Pacific region were under pressure as investors awaited cues from various central bank decisions over the week, starting with the Bank of Japan. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell over 1%, while Australia’s S&P ASX 200 traded flat.

Overnight, U.S. stocks began the week by powering ahead with a rally in their tech stocks. The S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 rose 0.63% and 0.82%, respectively, as of Monday.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. bond was trading at 4.32%, and Bitcoin was below 66,000. Brent crude was trading 0.12% lower at $86.79. a barrel.

The March futures contract of the GIFT Nifty was at 22,055.50, down 41.5 points or 0.19% as of 7:25 a.m.

India’s benchmark indices rebounded on Monday from a one-session fall to end the first session of the week higher, tracking gains in Tata Steel Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

The NSE Nifty 50 closed 32.35 points, or 0.15%, higher at 22,055.70, and the S&P BSE Sensex ended 104.99 points, or 0.14%, up at 72,748.42.

Overseas investors turned net sellers of Indian equities on Monday. Foreign portfolio investors offloaded stocks worth Rs 2,051.1 crore, while domestic institutional investors turned buyers and mopped up equities worth Rs 2,260.8 crore, the NSE data showed.

The Indian rupee weakened by 2 paise to close at Rs 82.91 against the U.S. dollar.