The Indian benchmark indices today extended losses for the second consecutive session, led by decline in realty, financial, auto and FMCG shares due to multiple factors. Sensex declined more than 961 points to 81,287, while Nifty 50 fell around 318 points to 25,179. Notably, today marks the first time since February 2 when Sensex closed below the 82,000 mark and Nifty 50 closed below the Rs 25,200 mark.
Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra and IndiGo were among the top losers on Sensex, while IT stocks Infosys and HCL Tech, along with Trent and Eternal were the only gainers. Notably, the IT stocks too have erased a portion of their morning gains, with TCS and Tech Mahindra slipping into the red.
Among all the stocks traded on NSE, 1,992 stocks declined while 1,140 advanced and 104 remained unchanged today. 255 stocks hit their 52-week lows, while 56 hit their respective 52-week highs on the exchange.
Here are some of the key factors pushing markets down today:
1) FII selling
The fall in stock markets comes as heavy selling by foreign investors may have dampened sentiment. Foreign institutional investors (FII) net sold Indian equities worth nearly Rs 3,466 crore earlier yesterday, according to data on NSE.
Domestic institutional investors, however, remained net buyers of Indian equities, purchasing shares worth Rs 5,032 crore on Thursday.Also read: Global funds make $2.1 billion comeback on D-Street as earnings outlook improves
2) Weak global markets
Wall Street’s tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index ended lower on Thursday as the tech rally failed to hold on to the momentum. The world’s most valuable company, Nvidia, saw its share price decline by 5%, a day after rising sharply following its better-than-expected January quarter results and high revenue forecast for the ongoing quarter.
Google-parent Alphabet shares declined nearly 2%, while Amazon shares were down more than 1%. AMD shares dropped more than 3%, while Salesforce shares rose more than 4% on strong earnings. Nasdaq Composite index closed more than 1% lower.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 is up 0.16%, while South Korea’s Kospi declined around 1%. Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite, meanwhile, are in the green.
Also read: IT doomsday rub-off effect! Realty stocks fall up to 20% this year. Should you buy the fear?
3) US-Iran tensions
US and Iran held indirect negotiations on Thursday over the latter’s nuclear program. However, the two countries have not concluded a deal, leaving room for worries after heightened tensions and expectations of a possible military conflict as US President Donald Trump-led administration has gathered a massive fleet of aircraft and warships in the region.
Earlier, Trump had warned Iran that it must make a deal over its nuclear program in 10-15 days, or “really bad things” will happen.
4) Rupee declines
Rupee slightly dipped against the US dollar as elevated dollar demand pressured prices. The Indian rupee settled at $90.9725 against the US dollar, slightly lower than the previous closing level of $90.9050.
“Indian markets continued to consolidate amid weak global cues and rising geopolitical risks, with investor sentiment turning increasingly cautious. The lack of progress in US–Iran nuclear talks has intensified concerns of further escalation of Middle East tensions, while persistent AI‑related uncertainty is also supporting safe‑haven flows. Domestically, a risk‑off tone prevails as the earnings season winds down and global macro factors take precedence. Although IT stocks are witnessing selective low‑level buying after recent corrections, the broader trend remains subdued. With FIIs staying cautious and volatility likely to resurface, markets may continue to trade within a narrow range,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments.
He added that India’s Q3 GDP prints, which are due later today and are expected to reflect underlying resilience, could offer some support at the margin.
According to Bajaj Broking, Nifty had an immediate resistance placed at 25,650, which it has already broken. The domestic brokerage had said that only a move above this level would signal a pause in the current corrective trend.
“Index is seen consolidating in the range of 25,350-25,900 in the last 9 sessions. A breakout or a breakdown below this range will signal next direction trend. Volatility is likely to remain elevated amid uncertain global cues. A breach below Tuesday’s low 25,327 will open further downside towards the 200-day EMA and the previous gap-up area placed around 25,100-25,200,” it added.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
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