Mumbai, Feb 6 (PTI) Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty slid for the second consecutive day on Thursday amid caution ahead of the RBI's monetary policy decision and fresh foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 213.12 points or 0.27 per cent to settle at 78,058.16 due to profit-taking in blue-chip shares such as Bharti Airtel, ITC and SBI. The index opened higher but slipped into the red in morning deals due to selling by investors. During the day, it tumbled 427.29 points or 0.54 per cent to 77,843.99.

The NSE Nifty declined 92.95 points or 0.39 per cent to 23,603.35 with 30 of its constituents closing lower.

Among Sensex scrips, Bharti Airtel fell by 2.47 per cent to emerge as the biggest loser. Airtel after the market hours reported a five-fold jump in profit for the third quarter of 2024-25.

Titan, NTPC, State Bank of India, ITC, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors were the major laggards.

Adani Ports, Infosys, Axis Bank, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and IndusInd Bank were among the gainers.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday started deliberations on the monetary policy and the decision will be announced on Friday.

"The benchmark indices experienced a moderate decline as investors awaited the RBI's decision on a potential rate cut amidst the ongoing trade war. The broader market remained cautious and in a consolidation phase despite the government's focus on boosting consumption to cushion lower growth," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

"Despite logging sharp gains in the first few minutes of opening trade, markets slipped into the red and moved in a narrow range with a negative bias for most part of the trading session. Investors booked profits in rate-sensitive shares like realty and auto ahead of monetary policy announcement tomorrow," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

The BSE midcap gauge declined 0.87 per cent while smallcap index ended flat down 2.18 points.

Among BSE sectoral indices, realty tanked the most 2.15 per cent, followed by consumer durables (2.04 per cent), telecommunication (1.73 per cent), consumer discretionary (1.34 per cent), power (1.16 per cent) and auto (0.86 per cent).

BSE healthcare, IT, services, bankex and BSE Focused IT were the gainers.

As many as 2,030 stocks declined while 1,908 advanced and 125 remained unchanged on the BSE.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory. European markets were trading with gains. US markets ended higher on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose by 0.60 per cent to USD 75.06 a barrel.

The BSE barometer gauge declined 312.53 points or 0.40 per cent to settle at 78,271.28 on Wednesday. The Nifty dropped 42.95 points or 0.18 per cent to 23,696.30.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net sellers on Wednesday offloading equities worth Rs 1,682.83 crore, according to exchange data. PTI SUM MR MR

Monetary policy uncertainty drives market volatility as investors book profits and react to foreign fund outflows. Benchmark indices fell for a second session as investors positioned ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy decision and reacted to net foreign fund outflows. Profit taking in large caps and selling in rate sensitive shares drove intraday weakness: early gains gave way to a negative bias, with realty, consumer durables, telecom and consumer discretionary underperforming while healthcare and IT outperformed. Market breadth favored decliners, and commentators cited anticipatory positioning and FII selling as the primary market drivers.