Market Overview: Equity Indices Decline Amid Foreign Fund Outflows
Mumbai: The Indian equity benchmark indices witnessed a significant downturn in early trade on Friday, marking the fourth consecutive day of losses. The BSE Sensex plummeted by 570.45 points, settling at 80,436.16, while the NSE Nifty fell 178.3 points to 24,571.55. This decline comes in the wake of persistent foreign fund outflows and disappointing earnings from Infosys.
Among the 30 firms listed on the Sensex, major contributors to the decline included Titan, Infosys, Maruti, Nestle, ITC, Adani Ports, HDFC Bank, and Hindustan Unilever. Notably, Infosys, India’s second-largest IT services exporter, reported a near 5% increase in net profit for the second quarter and raised its revenue guidance, driven by a recovery in demand, particularly from the financial sector. However, this announcement failed to alleviate investor concerns, leading to a sell-off in its shares.
In contrast, several blue-chip stocks managed to gain traction, with Axis Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, and Bharti Airtel showing positive movement. Axis Bank reported a robust 19.29% increase in consolidated net profit for the September quarter, amounting to Rs 7,401.26 crore, although it faced challenges in its unsecured lending segment.
The pressure from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) was evident as they offloaded equities worth Rs 7,421.40 crore on Thursday, primarily attributed to high valuations in the Indian market, according to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
In regional market performance, Seoul showed losses, while Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong experienced gains. The US markets closed mostly higher on Thursday, providing a mixed backdrop for Asian indices.
Additionally, the global oil benchmark Brent crude saw a slight increase of 0.20%, reaching USD 74.60 per barrel.
For reference, on Thursday, the BSE benchmark Sensex had already tumbled by 494.75 points, or 0.61%, closing at 81,006.61, with an intraday drop of 595.72 points. The NSE Nifty similarly fell by 221.45 points, or 0.89%, finishing at 24,749.85.
As the markets navigate these fluctuations, investors remain cautious amid ongoing foreign selling and mixed corporate earnings reports.
