Sensex drops over 220 pts in early trade; Nifty slips below 17,500

New Delhi: Equity benchmark Sensex declined over 220 points in opening trade on Friday, tracking weakness in index heavyweights Wipro, TCS, Infosys and RIL amid a mixed trend in the global market.

Persistent foreign capital outflows also affected the market sentiment, traders said.

The BSE gauge was trading 220.21 points or 0.37 per cent lower at 58,567.81 in early trade. Likewise, the Nifty fell 72.85 points or 0.41 per cent to 17,487.35.

Titan was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 1.39 per cent, followed by Wipro, TCS, Infosys, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech and HDFC.

On the other hand, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, ITC and NTPC were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the 30-share index ended 770.31 points or 1.29 per cent lower at 58,788.02. Similarly, the NSE Nifty plunged 219.80 points or 1.24 per cent to 17,560.20.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Tokyo was in the red.

Chinese markets are shut for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Stock exchanges in the US finished with deep losses in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.44 per cent to USD 91.51 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,597.54 crore on Thursday, according to stock exchange data.