Sensex falls 570 points, Nifty drops 178 as unabated foreign fund outflows drag markets lower
Indian equity benchmark indices continued their downward trend on Friday, marking the fourth consecutive day of losses. The decline was driven by persistent foreign fund outflows and a sharp selloff in Infosys shares after its second-quarter earnings disappointed investors. In early trading, the BSE Sensex plunged 570.45 points, reaching 80,436.16, while the NSE Nifty dropped 178.3 points to 24,571.55. Major losers among the 30 Sensex firms included Titan, Infosys, Maruti, Nestle, ITC, Adani Ports, HDFC Bank, and Hindustan Unilever.
Infosys Ltd, India’s second-largest IT services company, reported a nearly 5% rise in net profit for the second quarter on Thursday. However, despite raising its revenue guidance for the year, investor sentiment remained lackluster, leading to a selloff in the company’s shares. Among the gainers were Axis Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, and Bharti Airtel. Axis Bank posted a 19.29% rise in consolidated net profit for the September quarter, although it reported challenges in its unsecured lending segment.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their selling spree, offloading equities worth ₹7,421.40 crore on Thursday. According to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, the high valuations in India have been a key factor behind the ongoing FII exits.
In the broader Asian markets, Seoul traded lower, while Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong posted gains. Meanwhile, U.S. markets ended mostly higher on Thursday, and Brent crude oil saw a 0.20% rise to $74.60 per barrel. On Thursday, the BSE Sensex dropped 494.75 points, closing at 81,006.61, with an intra-day low of 80,905.64. Similarly, the NSE Nifty fell by 221.45 points to settle at 24,749.85.