Equity benchmarks witnessed a decline in early trading on Friday, weighed down by losses in information technology counters and weak cues from Asian peers. Caution prevailed among investors ahead of the release of domestic gross domestic product (GDP) figures.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 219 points to 81,414.02, while the NSE Nifty dipped 53.6 points to 24,780 in initial deals.
Among the laggards on the Sensex were technology giants such as Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services, alongside IndusInd Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra.
In contrast, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports, Nestlé India, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki and Eternal registered modest gains.
Asian markets were largely in the red, with South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index all trading lower.
Also read: Sensex, Nifty rebound after 2-day decline
In the United States, however, Wall Street closed higher on Thursday, lending some measure of support to global sentiment.
Despite the subdued start, institutional flows remained robust. According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) net bought equities worth ₹884.03 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) made purchases to the tune of ₹4,286.50 crore on Thursday.
Commenting on the market trajectory, VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, observed, “Stable institutional flows – both FII and DII – are keeping the market steady even in the absence of positive triggers. The ongoing consolidation phase is likely to continue in the near-term. Investors should understand two distinct big trends that will weigh on markets: One, India’s macros are strong and improving. Two, this positive trend in macros is not getting reflected in corporate earnings. This is the fundamental reason for the range bound movement of the market.”
On the commodities front, global oil benchmark Brent crude slipped by 0.48 per cent to trade at USD 63.84 per barrel.
On Thursday, the Sensex had gained 320.70 points or 0.39 per cent to close at 81,633.02, while the broader 50-share Nifty advanced 81.15 points or 0.33 per cent to end at 24,833.60.
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