Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty Register Longest Stretch Of Weekly Gains In Nearly Seven Months
The NSE Nifty 50 settled 186.20 points or 0.77% higher at 24,502.15, and the S&P BSE Sensex ended 622.00 points or 0.78% higher at 80,519.34.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Rupee Strengthens Against US Dollar
The local currency strengthened by 3 paise to close at 83.53 against the US dollar.
It closed at 83.56 on Thursday.
Source: Bloomberg
Sensex, Nifty Register Longest Stretch Of Weekly Gains In Nearly Seven Months: Market Wrap
Recovering from two-day decline, Indian benchmarks ended sharply higher as information technology stocks soared after Tata Consultancy Services surprised the street with expected profit.
The NSE Nifty 50 settled 186.20 points or 0.77% higher at 24,502.15, and the S&P BSE Sensex ended 622.00 points or 0.78% higher at 80,519.34.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd. were top gainers in the NSE Nifty 50 index.
On weekly basis, the benchmarks have recorded best stretch of gains in seven months.
During the day, the Nifty rose 1.14% to a fresh high of 24,592.20, and the Sensex jumped 1.25% to a record high of 80,893.51.
The Nifty 50 opened at 24,387.95, and the Sensex opened at 80,093,62.
"Multiple tailwinds led the market to come out of the range bound trajectory. The strong result from the IT bellwether and a drop in US inflation to a one-year low added optimism to the market," said Vinod Nair, head, research, Geojit Financial Services.
The chances of a rate cut in September are inching higher, which is evident in the fall of the dollar index. We expect stock-specific moves to gain traction due to the ongoing earnings season and upcoming budget; indeed, IT will be in the limelight due to the good start to the earnings and outlook, Nair said.
Indian benchmarks rose for six straight weeks, marking the best weekly winning streak since Dec 11, 2023. The Nifty 50 rose 0.73%, and Sensex rose 0.65%.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., and Axis Bank Ltd. added to the Nifty 50 index.
ICICI Bank Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., and Asian Paints Ltd. weighed on the index.
This week, six sectors advanced, six declined out of 12. The NSE Nifty FMCG emerged as the top performed, followed by the NSE Nifty IT. The NSE Nifty Metal led losses.
Broader markets underperformed benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Midcap and Smallcap ended 0.22% and 0.13% lower, respectively.
On BSE, nine sectors advanced, and 11 sectors declined out of 20. The S&P BSE lead the gains, while the S&P BSE Realty declined the most.
Market breadth was skewed in favour of sellers. Around 2,233 stocks declined, 1,700 advanced, and 103 stocks remained unchanged.
BEL Gets Export Order Worth Euro 25.75 Million
Bharat Electronics Ltd. has received an export order worth Euro 25.75 million from Thales Reliance Defence Systems.
Source: Exchange filing
Ahluwalia Contracts Gets Order Worth Rs 581 Crore
Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Ltd. has received an order worth Rs 581 crore from ETSY Realcon for civil construction in Gurugram.
Source: Exchange filing
Nifty, Sensex Logs Best Rally In Over A Month As Tech Stocks Lead: Midday Market Update
The Indian benchmark indices brushed off valuation concerns to scale past yet another life high on Friday, driven by the heavyweight technology stocks on positive earnings of IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.
After opening higher, the NSE Nifty 50 surged past the key 24,500 level, while the S&P BSE Sensex surpassed the 80,500 mark. As of 11: 21 a.m., the Nifty was at 24,490, up 0.71% or 173 points, and the Sensex was at 80,442, down 0.69% or 570 points.
The benchmarks—Nifty and Sensex—recorded their best intraday surge in over a month by rising 1.14% and 1.25% respectively, the highest since June 7.
Traders will also eye the release of the key inflation and the industrial production print in India after the market hours.
IT companies added over Rs 1 lakh crore to investor wealth on Friday, after the Nifty IT rose to the highest level in over two years, led by Infosys Ltd. and TCS.
The software-technology giant's net profit declined 3.2% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 12,105 crore. Brokerages said that the catch-up rally for IT major's shares is on the horizon, but they remain wary as the management pointed out unchanged market conditions with the results announcement.
Shares of Infosys, TCS, Axis Bank Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd. and HCL Technologies Ltd. helped the Nifty's surge.
While those of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Divi's Laboratories Ltd., Asian Paints Ltd., and Hindalco Industries Ltd. weighed on the index.
Eight of the 12 sectors claimed higher in trade, with the IT media and the media index advancing the most by 3.64% and 2.55%, respectively. Nifty Realty fell the most.
The broader indices underperformed the benchmarks as the BSE MidCap fell by 0.22%, while the SmallCap rose by 0.06%.
Twelve out of the 20 sectoral indices on the BSE declined in the session, with Realty falling the most.
The market breadth was slightly skewed in the favour of the sellers as 1,862 stocks fell, 1,853 rose and 154 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Sterlite Tech Gets Creditors' Nod For Demerging Global Services Business
Sterlite Technologies Ltd. recieved shareholders and creditors' nod for demerger of its Global Services Business.
The company expects to get NCLT approval for demerger within 2-3 months.
Demerger is likely to allow both businesses to grow independently and unlock value for investors.
Source: Exchange filing
Coal India To Tweak Its E-Auction Norms
Coal India is to tweak its e-auction norms by taking steps like lowering earnest money deposit & ramping up quantities offered under auction.
The company is to lower EMD in e-auctions from Rs 500/ton of coal to Rs 150/ton.
Coal India is contemplating 3-hour auction window to replace the earlier long-drawn process.
Source: Exchange filing
Quant Mutual Fund's CFO Resigns
Quant Mutual Fund's Harshal Patel resigned as CFO with effect from July 1.
Harshal Patel cites 'personal reasons' for his resignation from the post of CFO
Shashi Kataria appointed as CFO, Operations Head ED of Quant Money Managers with effect from July 1
Alert: Shashi Kataria was CFO, COO & Director of PPFAS AMC
Godrej Consumer Products Launches Indigenously Developed Mosquito Repellant
Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. launched first indigenously developed mosquito repellant molecule Renofluthrin under brand GoodKnight.
Renofluthrin is 2 times efficient than existing molecule used in GoodKnight repellants.
Molecule to be used across all major household mosquito repellents of Godrej Consumer Products.
Source: Press Conference
Railtel Corp Jumps Over 13% To Record High
Shares of Railtel Corporation of India surged 13.69% to Rs 596.00, the highest level since its listing on Feb 26, 2021. It was trading 13.15% higher at Rs 588.60 as of 12:25 p.m., as compared to 0.75% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.
Q1 Business Update - Puravankara (YoY)
Puravankara Ltd.'s customer collections from real estate business rose 39% Rs 965 crore from Rs 696 crore.
Its sales came at Rs 1,128 crore from Rs 1,126 crore.
Source: Exchange filing
Auto Sales - SIAM Data Q1 (YoY)
Total vehicle sales at 64 lakh units vs 55 lakh units
PV sales at 3.4 lakh units vs 4.1 lakh units
Total exports at 11.9 lakh units vs 10.3 lakh units
Utility vehicle sales at 6.5 lakh units vs 5.5 lakh units
Two-wheeler sales at 50 lakh units vs 41.4 lakh units
Shipping Corp Denies Oil Firm JV Report, Shares Continue Rally To
Shares of Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. continue to hit fresh record high for the second straight session on Friday, even after the company clarified that media reports about it entering into a joint venture with a state-run oil marketing company for manufacturing very large oil tankers were rumours.
Shares of Shipping Corporation of India rose as much as 16.37% during the day to Rs 384.20 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 7.62% higher at Rs 355.30 apiece, compared to a 0.24% advance in the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 as of 10:33 a.m.
The stock has risen 249.70% in the last 12 months and 118.05% on a year-to-date basis. The relative strength index was at 81.41 indicating that the stock may be overbought.
UBS Upgrades Federal Bank To 'Buy'
UBS Research has upgraded Federal Bank to 'Buy' from 'Neutral' with a target price of Rs 250, which implied a 28% upside.
Expect ROA accretion-based re-rating aided by near-term catalyst
Re-rating catalysts: clarity on new CEO and visibility on future strategy
Expect 20bp ROA accretion by FY27 to be driven by improvement in NIMs
Change in mix towards high yield loans to drive NIM expansion
Sustained c20% loan growth driving better operating leverage
Risk-reward is very attractive at current levels
Core bank at 1.1x FY26E P/BV, 27-120% discount to select peers with comparable ROEs
Nifty IT Rises To Over Two-Year High
The Nifty IT index surged 3.74% to 38,727.20, the highest level since Jan 18, 2022. It was trading 3.44% higher at 38,629.50 as of 11:28 a.m., compared to 0.66% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.
Indian Benchmarks Hit Fresh Highs
The NSE Nifty 50 scaled a fresh high of 24,470.85, and the S&P BSE Sensex scaled a fresh high of 80,502.10.
Synergy Industrial Acquires 8.7% Stake In GMR Power
Synergy Industrials acquires 8.7% stake in GMR Power & Industrial via conversion of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds.
Source: Exchange filing
Shipping Corp Clarifies Building JV News
No firm development on ship building joint venture, Shipping Corporation said.
Alert: Issues clarification on media report of govt plans on JV with state-run refiners.
Source: Exchange filing
LT Foods Hits New High After Starting New Facility In UK For Further Expansion
LT Foods Ltd. rose to the highest level since listing as it has opened a new facility in the UK to deepen its reach in the Pound-one-billion rice and rice-based food market.
Shares of LT Foods Ltd. rose 6.06% higher to Rs 297.50, the highest level since its listing on Dec 18, 2006. It pared gains to trade 3.94% to Rs 291.55 as of 10:09 a.m., as compared to 0.26% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.
The scrip gained 125.05% in 12 months, and 43.7% on year to date basis. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 0.07 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 76.07.
One analysts tracking the company maintain a 'buy' rating, according to Bloomberg data.
Nifty IT Rises To Over Four-Month High As TCS Lead
The NSE Nifty IT rose 1.97% to 38,067.70, the highest level since Feb 28. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Ltd. were leading gains in the index. It was trading 1.60% higher at 37,937.55 as of 09:38 a.m., as compared to 0.41% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.
Nifty, Sensex Open Higher As TCS, Infosys, RIL Lead: Opening Bell
Indian benchmark indices opened higher in the last session of the week as information technology stocks gain. IT stocks rose early trade after Tata Consultancy Services reported better than expected earnings, and as investors now look forward to HCL Technologies Ltd.'s earnings, due to published later today.
As of 09:17 a.m, the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 69.25 points or 0.28% higher at 24,385.20, and the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 126.48 points or 0.16% higher at 80,023.83.
The Nifty 50 opened at 24,387.95, and the Sensex opened at 80,093,62.
"We expect that volatility can't rule out due to apprehensions over quarterly earnings and concerns over rising oil prices on signs of more robust demand. Investors also await IIP and CPI inflation data later in the day for clues on the economic outlook," said Avdhut Bagkar, technical and derivatives analyst, StoxBox.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., Wipro Ltd., and Larsen & Toubro Ltd. added to the gains in the Nifty 50 index.
HDFC Bank Ltd., Power Grid Corp of India, ITC Ltd., and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. limited gains in the index.
On NSE nine sectors advanced, two declined, and one remained flat out of 12. The NSE Nifty IT rose the most, and the NSE Nifty Realty declined the most.
Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading 0.30% and 0.46% higher, respectively.
On BSE, 17 sectors advanced, three declined out of 20. The S&P BSE IT index rose the most, and the S&P BSE Realty declined the most.
Market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers. Around 2,097 stocks advanced, 754 stocks declined, and 95 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.
Yield On The 10-Year Bond Flat
The yield on the 10-year bond opened flat at 6.97%.
It closed at 6.98% on Thursday.
Source: Cogencis
Rupee Strengthens Against US Dollar
The local currency strengthened by 2 paise to open at 83.54 against the US dollar.
It closed at 83.56 on Thursday.
Source: Bloomberg
Watch India Market Open At NDTV Profit
Indian Benchmarks Rise At Pre-Open
At pre-open, the NSE Nifty 50 was 0.30% or 72 points higher at 24,387.95, and the S&P BSE Sensex was 0.25% or 196.28 points higher at 80,093.62.
UBS On ABB
Downgrade stock to Neutral from Buy
The target price raised to Rs 9,100 vs Rs 8,830 earlier (+7.4% upside)
Earnings have been upgraded 40% by consensus in past 12 months
Sees limited room for valuation re-rating, 30% earnings growth priced in
Believes current valuations reflects upside case earnings expectation
Factors that will lead to upgrade to Buy again:
Quarterly order run-rate beyond Rs 3,800 crore from mobility
Robust margins in emerging portfolio in electrification
Brokerages On TCS
CLSA
CLSA maintains 'Hold' on Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. with a target price Rs. 4,007 compared to earlier Rs. 3,990). The target price implied an upside of 3%.
Growth largely led by ramp up of BSNL deal
Margin slightly ahead of estimates due to lower subcontracting costs
Demand commentary remains unchanged
Slightly increase revenue forecasts due to ramp up of BSNL deal
Slightly lower margins due to pass through from BSNL contract
Motilal Oswal Financial Service
Motilal Oswal reiterates 'Buy' on Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. with a target price Rs 4,660, which implied a 20% upside.
Stable growth led by India geography; BFSI returns to growth
Growth driven by BSNL deal ramp up
BSNL, other large deals to cushion growth in FY25
TCS is well positioned to withstand the lukewarm macro environment
The company is able to maintain its industry-leading margin, demonstrate superior returns
The target price implied 30x FY26E EPS
Nuvama
Maintain 'buy', roll forward with a target price Rs 4,800 apiece compared to previous Rs.4,560. The target price implied a 23% upside.
Deal flows soft at $8.3 billion.
Believes earnings downgrade cycle for the sector is behind.
Deal wins shall gradually convert into revenue in coming quarters.
Management sounded positive as they see a recovery in US-BFS and bottoming out of the retail vertical.
Marginally tweaking FY25E/26 earnings.
Sees TCS as a perfect large-cap proxy to play this upcycle.
IIFL
Retains reduce and target price of Rs 3,950, upside 1.2%.
Largely retains FY24-FY26 earnings estimates.
Marginally better-than-expected numbers.
Deal wins moderated due to timing of deal closures, but within guided range.
Management refrained from giving growth commentary.
Near-term demand volatility due to weakness in discretionary demand.
FY25 will be better than FY24.
Global Cues
US Dollar Index at 104.52.
US 10-year bond yield at 4.23%.
Brent crude up 0.16% at $85.54 per barrel.
Bitcoin was down 0.98% at $56,990.44.
The GIFT Nifty was trading flat at 24,459.00 as of 7:39 a.m.
Money Market Update
The Indian currency weakened 3 paise to close at 83.56 against the US dollar.
F&O Cues
Nifty July futures up by 0.11% to 24,382.65 at a premium of 66.7 points.
Nifty July futures open interest down by 3.08%.
Nifty Bank July futures up by 0.23% to 52,439.45 at a premium of 168.8 points.
Nifty Bank July futures open interest down by 7.2%.
Nifty Options July 18 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 25,000 and maximum put open interest at 23,500.
Bank Nifty Options July 16 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 54,000 and maximum put open interest at 52,000.
Securities in ban period: Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, Balrampur Chini Mills, Bandhan Bank, Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals, GNFC, IEX, India Cements, Indus Tower, Piramal Enterprises, and RBL Bank.
Bulk Deals
Eraaya Lifespaces: AG Dynamic Funds bought 2.5 lakh shares (1.65%) at Rs 800 apiece, and Sneha Garg sold 2.43 lakh shares (1.6%) at Rs 800 apiece.
Systematix Corporate Services: Dovetail India Fund bought 0.72 lakh shares (0.55%) at Rs 1,400 apiece.
Cigniti Technologies: Ashika Credit Capital bought 1.4 lakh shares (0.51%) at Rs 1,355.1 apiece.
Trading Tweaks
Ex/record dividend: AU Small Finance Bank, Anant Raj, Birlasoft, Axis Bank, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank, Indian Oil Corp., IRM Energy, Jubilant FoodWorks, Kirloskar Pneumatic, Mahindra Lifespace Developers, Petronet LNG, Piramal Pharma, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, United Spirits, Wendt (India), Jayant Agro Organics, Atul, Blue Dart Express, Mahindra Logistics, Kabra Extrusion Technik, Neuland Laboratories, Onward Technologies, Safari Industries (India).
Ex/record AGM: Anant Raj, Atul, Blue Dart Express, Mahindra Logistics, Mahindra EPC Irrigation, Neuland Laboratories, Onward Technologies, Safari Industries (India).
Moved in short-term Framework: D-Link (India), PC Jeweller, Solara Active Pharma Sciences.
Moved out short-term Framework: Marine Electricals (India).
Stocks to Watch
Hindustan Zinc: The state-owned company received renewable power from Serentica’s 180 MW solar project.
Prestige Estates Projects: The real-estate firm recorded a 22.6% year-on-year dip in sales at Rs 3,030 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal due to a lag in approvals and project launches amid the election season. The total sales volume during the quarter also fell to 2.86 million sq ft. The average realisation rose 16% year-on-year to Rs 11,934 per sq. ft. for apartments, villas, and commercial spaces, and the average realisation for plots also rose 46% year-on-year to Rs 7,285 per sq. ft. The real-estate firm reported a 6% jump in sales collection in the quarter ended June at Rs 2,916 crore. Prestige Estates sold 1,364 units in the first quarter.
Mahindra & Mahindra: The auto company's total production in the first quarter of this fiscal was 69,045 units, up 8% year-on-year and total sales were up 11% at 66,800 units. The total exports were up 4% to 2,597 units for the quarter ended June. The company also reduced its stake in Switzerland's Gamaya from 15.04% to 4.33% due to a shareholding reorganisation.
Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail: The fashion company raised its stake in Goodview Fashion to 51% from 33.5% for Rs 127 crore. Goodview Fashion manufactures and sells ethnic couture under the Tarun Tahiliani brand.
Adani Wilmar: The Ahmedabad-based company will acquire a 67% stake in specialty chemical company Omkar Chemical Industries at an enterprise value of Rs 56.25 crore.
Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers: The chemical and fertiliser company placed a purchase order worth Rs 514 crore. The order is to revamp its ammonia plant in Thal, Maharashtra.
Allcargo Terminals: The logistics company reported CFS volumes for the month of June at 55.9 '000 TEUs, up 20% year-on-year.
Vodafone Idea: Shareholders approved the issuance of preferential shares. In other news, the telecom giant received notice from ATC Telecom Infra for the conversion of OCDs worth Rs 160 crore into shares.
Azad Engineering: The manufacturing company received a five-year contract from Germany's Siemens Energy Global for the supply of rotating components for Siemens' gas and thermal turbine engines.
Infosys: The technology giant received a contract from the Delaware Department of Labor to upgrade its legacy systems.
LT Foods: The FMCG company expanded its footprint to the United Kingdom to tap the £1 billion rice and rice-based food market. Eyes revenue to the tune of £100 million in the next five years.
Oriental Rail Infrastructure: The company’s unit received a Rs 432 crore order for the supply of 1,200 BVCM-C wagons from Indian Railways.
Nazara Technologies: The technology company’s unit Nodwin Singapore acquired an additional 43.5% stake in Freaks 4U Gaming for €23.45 million; Freaks 4U became a step-down subsidiary of the company.
Affle (India): The mobile marketing platform received a patent in the US titled 'Method and system for enabling an interaction between user and podcast'.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises: The board is to consider and approve the raising of funds on Tuesday.
Pitti Engineering: The company raises Rs 360 crore via QIP to allot 34.14 lakh shares at Rs 1054.25 per share.
Cyient: The technology company will set up a new subsidiary with a dedicated focus on its end-to-end turnkey ASIC semiconductor business.
Earnings in Focus
HCL Technologies (Bloomberg Estimate)
Revenue estimate at Rs 28,028 crore.
EBIT estimate at Rs 4,806.4 crore.
Margin estimate at 17%.
Net profit estimate at Rs 3,846.1 crore.
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (Bloomberg Estimate)
Net profit estimate at Rs 368.6 crore.
Earnings Post Market
TCS Q1 FY25 (Consolidated, QoQ)
Revenue up 2.2% at Rs 62,613 crore versus Rs 61,237 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 62,128.4 crore).
EBIT down 3% at Rs 15,442 crore versus Rs 15,918 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 15,245.5 crore).
EBIT margin at 24.7% versus 26% (Bloomberg estimate 24.5%).
Net profit down 3.2% at Rs 12,105 crore versus Rs 12,502 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 11,959 crore).
Anand Rathi Wealth Q1 FY25 (Consolidated, YoY)
Total income up 38% at Rs 245.4 crore versus Rs 178.4 crore.
Net profit up 38% at Rs 73.4 crore versus Rs 53.2 crore.
Block Deals
Godrej Agrovet: R K N Enterprises sold 41.46 lakh shares (2.15%) at Rs 800.05 apiece. On the other hand, Jamshyd Naoroji Godrej bought 10.36 lakh shares (0.37%), Navroze Jamshyd Godrej bought 10.36 lakh shares (0.37%) and Freyan Crishna Bieri bought 6.91 lakh shares (0.24%) at Rs 800.05 apiece. Nyrika Holkar also bought 6.91 lakh shares (0.24%) and Smita Godrej Crishna bought 6.91 lakh shares (0.24%) at Rs 800.05 apiece.
Godrej Properties: R K N Enterprises sold 39.86 lakh shares (2.07%) at Rs 3,313.9 apiece. Jamshyd Naoroji Godrej bought 9.96 lakh shares (0.51%), Navroze Jamshyd Godrej bought 9.96 lakh shares (0.51%) and Freyan Crishna Bieri bought 6.64 lakh shares (0.34%) at Rs 3,313.9 apiece. Nyrika Holkar also bought 6.64 lakh shares (0.34%) and Smita Godrej Crishna bought 6.64 lakh shares (0.23%) at Rs 3,313.9 apiece.
GIFT Nifty Trades Above 24,400
Most Asian markets were trading lower on Friday amid positive inflation reports from the US, as the Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar on speculation of intervention.
The Nikkei 225 was trading 1.97% lower at 41,386.81, and the Kospi was trading 1.31% lower at 2,853.37 as of 07:27 a.m.
US stock traders cheered signs of disinflation, causing bond yields to plummet on Thursday. This comes as the markets expect the Federal Reserve to soon reduce interest rates. These expectations also triggered a significant shift in the stock market. Traders exited the long-favoured safety trade of technology megacaps and moved towards small caps.
The S&P 500 fell 0.88% to 5,584.54 after its longest rally this year. The Nasdaq Composite sank over 1.95% as of Thursday.
Brent crude was trading 0.12% higher at $85.50 a barrel. Gold fell 0.34% to $2,407.32 an ounce.
The GIFT Nifty was trading 13 points or 0.05% higher at 24,471.00 as of 7:29 a.m.
The Indian benchmarks opened positively but relinquished all gains within the first hours of trading. Under pressure from selling, the Nifty fell below 24,200. However, it recovered all losses during the second half of the session, ultimately closing nearly unchanged.
The NSE Nifty 50 settled at 8.50 points or 0.04%, lower at 24,315.95, and the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 27.43 points or 0.03%, lower at 79,897.34.
Overseas investors turned net sellers of Indian equities on Friday after being buyers for six days. Foreign portfolio investors offloaded stocks worth Rs 1,137.01 crore, while domestic institutional investors stayed net buyers for the fourth session and bought equities worth Rs 1,676.47 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.
The Indian currency weakened by 3 paise to close at 83.56 against the US dollar.