Indian equity benchmarks continued to fall on Thursday as FMCG, PSU bank and pharma stocks dragged. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack fell 111 points or 0.14 per cent to close at 77,580 and the broader NSE barometer Nifty slipped 26 points or 0.11 per cent to end at 23,533.
Broader mid- and small-caps managed to buck the trend and closed higher today but logged a sharp drop on a weekly basis. Nifty ended flat on a weekly expiry day, after sustained selling over the last five days. Decent buying and bottom-fishing were seen on mid- and small-caps.
Overall, investor sentiment remained downbeat on a poor earnings season and continued foreign outflows. The fear index, India VIX cooled off by 4.27 per cent to 14.78, indicating a drop in market volatility.
"Market witnessed a range-bound session with a negative bias as selective selling in FMCG, oil & gas and power stocks weighed on the sentiment. Despite the lacklustre trend, selective buying in realty, auto, banking and telecom stocks kept the losses under check," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities.
For Sensex, the major culprits that dragged the index lower were Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), ITC, NTPC, PowerGrid, Tata Motors, Nestle, Adani Ports and SBI. On NSE, six out of 15 sub-indices were down. Nifty FMCG, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Pharma fell sharply.
"Market worries seem to compound with latest inflation print adding to the concerns of growth slowdown while expectations for RBI interest rate cut gets pushed further into early FY26. Stronger US dollar and higher US treasury yields after Donald Trump's victory is a double whammy for Indian markets already reeling under record foreign outflows. Relentless foreign selling continued for 33 consecutive sessions with outflows amounting to around Rs 27,600 crore so far in November over and above the record 1.14 lakh crores in October," said Gaurav Garg, Research Analyst at Lemonn Market Desk.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Rs 2,502.58 crore worth of shares on a net basis during the previous session, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 6,145.24 crore worth of equity, according to stock exchange data.
"Looking ahead, next week, investors will digest key macro data ranging from flash PMI surveys to bank deposit and loan growth to assess the impact and extent of growth moderation in the domestic economy. Focus will also be on the remaining corporate earnings announcements," Garg added.
Nifty outlook
"The 23,500-23,540 zone will act as immediate support for Nifty. A strong break below 23,500, will push the index further lower to 23,300-23,200 levels, where a trend line support is placed. The short-term trend is down, but as long as Nifty holds above 23,500, a pullback rally could be possible," said Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP Technical and Derivatives Research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Interrmediates.