Nifty, Sensex Cool Off Day After Foreign Inflows Push Indices To Fresh Record: Midday Market Update

India's benchmark indices traded lower on Friday after seeing record highs in the previous session, as consumer stocks weighed. This comes a day after foreign investors pumped in record liquidity to trigger a sudden spike.

At 11:29 a.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 25 points, or 0.1% lower at 25,363, and the S&P BSE Sensex was down 62 points, or 0.08% at 82,900. Both Nifty and Sensex fell as much as 0.37% and 0.38% during early trade on Friday.

Foreign portfolio investors mopped up stocks worth Rs 7,695 crore on Thursday, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

DIIs, who bought when FIIs sold, are now selling back to FIIs at a higher price the same shares which they sold earlier, according to VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services Ltd. "In the tug-of-war between FIIs and DIIs, which has been happening over the last more than two years, DIIs have been winning consistently."

Jefferies upgraded Bharti Hexacom Ltd.'s rating to 'buy' from 'hold' and sees a 29.45% upside on the stock. The company will benefit the most from the expected tariff hikes over the next few years among its peers, the brokerage said.

Bharti Airtel Ltd.'s stock also received a target price hike from Jefferies on expectations of a better competitive advantage and likely telecom tariff hikes in the next two years that will boost earnings.

Fundamentally strong large-caps like Bharti Airtel Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., ITC Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd., Infosys Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. have the potential to take the market forward, Vijayakumar said. "But higher levels can attract selling by DIIs and profit booking by individual investors."

Shares of Bajaj Finance Ltd., Wipro Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., and Axis Bank Ltd. were contributing to gains in the Nifty 50.

While those of ITC Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. were weighing the index.

On NSE, 10 of the 12 sectors declined, with Nifty Realty and Media advancing the most during the session. The Nifty FMCG slipped the most on Friday.

Broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices, with the Midcap and Smallcap trading 0.55% and 0.97% higher, respectively, through midday on Friday.

On BSE, 18 of the 20 sectors advanced, with BSE Realty and Metal leading gains.

Market breadth was skewed in the favour of buyers. Around 2,563 stocks rose, 1,183 stocks declined, and 154 remained unchanged on the BSE.

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