Prior to this, the approach of expiry day had attracted short covering in the index futures which ensured that FIIs were left holding close to 60% of their index futures as longs, in stark contrast to just 16% as longs in mid-July.
Sensex marginally lower in early trade, Nifty below 24,700; FMCG cos drag
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex opened 47.34 points or 0.06% lower at 81,661.78, while the broader Nifty 50 index opened at 24,669.75, lower by 8.05