Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty End Lower For Second Day; FPIs Stay Net Buyers

Overseas investors stay net buyers for two consecutive sessions on Friday.

Foreign portfolio investors bought stocks worth Rs 2,625.21 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

Domestic institutional investors continued as buyers and purchased stocks worth Rs 134.46 crore, the NSE data showed.

Foreign institutions have been net buyers of Rs 96,349 crore worth of Indian equities so far in 2023, according to data from the National Securities Depository Ltd., updated till the previous trading day.

The yield on the 10-year bond closed flat at 7.27% on Friday.

Source: Bloomberg

• The local currency depreciated 4 paise to close at all time weakest level of 83.38 against the U.S. dollar on Friday.

• It closed at 83.34 on Thursday

Source: Bloomberg

India's benchmark stock indices ended lower for the second day on Friday. Pharma and healthcare sectors advanced while IT sector was under pressure. The headline indices gained for the fourth week this Friday, the longest stretch of gains since July 21, 2023.

The S&P BSE Sensex Index closed down 48 points, or 0.07%, at 65,970.04 while the NSE Nifty 50 was 7 points or 0.04% lower at 19,794.70.

There could be some bout of volatility from current levels with respect to the monthly expiry next week, stated Vikas Jain, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities.

Sensex ended below 66,000 level whereas Nifty 50 was above just above 19,800 mark.

Examining the Nifty, it reached a peak of 19,875 last week, creating an immediate hurdle, as per Mandar Bhojane, equity research analyst at Choice Broking. "A crossover is deemed necessary for a fresh upward movement. On the hourly chart, the 19,600-19,550 range is identified as the immediate support zone. Traders are advised to maintain long positions with a stop loss at this level," he added.

European shares wavered after the latest economic data highlighted Germany’s struggle to recover from an energy-induced downturn last winter and the mounting impact of higher borrowing costs.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index was little changed at the open, holding onto a modest weekly gain. Hong Kong and mainland Chinese equities dropped, reversing Thursday’s rally inspired by Beijing’s widening property rescue campaign. Japanese stocks rose in catch-up play after a national holiday, while those in Australia also gained. U.S. equity futures were steady

The U.S. markets will open for half a day for Friday.

HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd. Axis Bank Ltd., Adani Enterprises Ltd., and Cipla Ltd. were positively adding to the change in the Nifty 50 Index.

Whereas, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Ltd., ITC Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd., and Bajaj Finance were negatively contributing to the change.

The indices advanced for the fourth week this Friday, posting the longest stretch of gains since July 21, 2023. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.27% and NSE Nifty 50 was higher by 0.32% this week.

Last week, the headline indices advanced for the third time as the S&P BSE Sensex Index rose 1.56% and NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced by 1.72%.

The dominant trend in the market this year is the huge outperformance of the mid and small caps, said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"While Nifty is up only 8.82% year-to-date, Nifty midcap index and Nifty Smallcap index are up 33.38% and 41.66% year-to-date. It is important to understand that Nifty is depressed by the poor performance of banks which have the largest weightage in Nifty. The Nifty Bank index is almost flat this year with measly growth of 0.87%," he added.

The broader markets outperformed larger peers; the S&P BSE MidCap Index was up 0.13%, whereas S&P BSE SmallCap Index was 0.14% higher.

Twelve out of 20 sectors compiled by BSE advanced, while eight sectors declined. S&P BSE IT fell the most, while S&P BSE Capital Goods rose the most.

The market breadth was split in between the buyers and sellers. About 1,805 stocks rose, 1,872 stocks declined, while 137 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Banks are underperforming despite very good results because they are over-owned and sustained FII selling is weighing on bank stocks. Mid and smallcaps are under-owned and retail exuberance is largely driving these stocks. There is no valuation comfort in the broader market but valuations are fair in large caps, Dr. V K Vijayakumar said further.

"Therefore, the next leg of the rally, driven by institutional money - both foreign and domestic- will be driven by large caps," he added.

Most sectors advanced this week with Nifty Realty Index gaining over 1%, followed by Nifty Metal. Nifty IT has fallen the most this week.

Ajay Gupta appointed as executive director of ICICI Bank for three years effective November 27.

Source: Exchange Filing