Indian equity benchmarks returned to negative territory on Thursday after recording a rebound in the previous session. The domestic indices were dragged by technology, banks, financials and automobile stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack dived 502 points or 0.84 per cent to close at 58,909; while the broader NSE Nifty index moved 129 points or 0.74 per cent lower to settle at 17,322. Mid and smallcap shares finished on a weak note, with the Nifty Midcap 100 down 0.32 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 shedding 0.17 per cent. India VIX slipped 0.19 per cent to 12.97. Most Asian stocks settled slightly lower today.
The benchmarks have witnessed losses in nine out of the last 10 sessions after snapping an eight-day losing streak on Wednesday. Persisting interest rate hike fears and sustained foreign selling kept investors cautious.
Selling pressure in select index heavyweights such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries also dragged the indices lower.
“Global markets turned back to selling mode with the US 10-year bond yield crossing 4 per cent as a fresh set of US data suggested that inflation will remain elevated for a longer period. Rising bond yields are driving foreign money out of emerging markets, and as a result, FIIs were net sellers in the domestic market for the sixth consecutive day. Mid- and small-cap stocks continued to show resilience with mild selling compared to their larger peers,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Foreign portfolio investors have sold a net Rs 38,789 crore of Indian equities in 2023
13 out of the 15 sectoral indices on NSE settled in the red. Nifty IT, Nifty Financial, Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto underperformed the Nifty index by falling 1.26 per cent, 0.85 per cent, 0.76 per cent and 0.86 per cent, respectively.
Shares of Triveni Turbine dived by 6.76 per cent. Rajesh Exports cracked 5.01 per cent; while Yes Bank moved 4.43 per cent lower. Uflex and Siemens fell up to 3.91 per cent. Index heavyweights Infosys, TCS, HDFC Bank and Reliance declined up to 1.91 per cent.
On the flip side, all 10 listed Adani stocks continued to rise in sync for the second straight session.
Also, Macrotech Developers zoomed 18.83 per cent; while Rail Vikas Nigam gained 12.22 per cent. Kiri Industries jumped 10 per cent. Adani Green Energy, Adani Wilmar, JBF Industries and Adani Power moved up to 4.99 per cent higher.
Out of a total of 3,600 stocks that traded during the day, 1,876 settled with cuts while 1,581 others ended higher. The rest 143 stocks stayed unchanged.
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