Indian equities fall in early trade; Sensex slips over 600 pts

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) India's key indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- declined during early trade on Monday due to continued selling by foreign institutional investors, while the geo-strategic tensions between Ukraine and Russia also weighed in, said analysts.

At 9.36 a.m., Sensex traded at 57,225 points, down 1.1 per cent or 608 points, whereas Nifty traded 17,100 points, down 1.0 per cent or 176 points.

Among the stocks, HDFC Life, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco, and UPL were the top five losers among the Nifty 50 companies during the early trade, declining 2.4 per cent, 2.3 per cent, 1.8 per cent, 1.8 per cent, and 1.7 per cent, respectively.

"There are strong headwinds for the market arising from Ukraine tensions and monetary tightening by the Fed expected from March onwards. Adding to these headwinds there are concerns specific to India like sustained FII selling and rising crude...," said V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"Trends of improving earnings growth and fair valuations in segments like financials are supporting the market. Investors should wait till clarity emerges on the Russia-Ukraine front," Vijayakumar added.