FX.co ★ Sensex, Nifty Marginally Lower In Early Trade, Axis Bank Surges Over 4%

Indian stock markets got off to a weak start on Thursday, grappling with disappointing news from Meta Platforms and cautious sentiment ahead of the expiry of April's derivative contracts. The S&P BSE Sensex was down 66 points, at 73,830, while the NSE Nifty index slipped 15 points, sitting at 22,387.

Kotak Mahindra Bank faced a more than 10% drop following the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) ban on the bank accepting new customers via its online and mobile banking channels, as well as issuing new credit cards.

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) shares slipped by 1.4% after it reported stagnant quarterly profits due to slow sales. Shares of HDFC Life, Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTIMindTree), and Tata Consumer Products also slid by 1-2%.

On the other hand, Axis Bank stocks saw an upward trend over 4%, after its board gave their nod for fundraising plans that could rake in up to Rs. 55,000 crores. Shares of State Bank of India (SBI), Sun Pharma, HCL Technologies and Grasim saw around a 1% increase.

Finally, Reliance Industries saw a slight upward movement following Jio Cinema's decision to cut subscription prices for premium content.