Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty Log Worst Losing Streak In Five Months As Axis, ICICI Drag

Overseas investors stayed sellers on Thursday for the fourth consecutive day.

Foreign portfolio investors sold stocks worth Rs 4,260.33 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange and domestic institutional investors remained net buyers for the seventh day and mopped up equities worth Rs 2,285.52 crore, the NSE data showed.

Foreign institutions have been net buyers of Rs 9,802 crore worth of Indian equities so far in 2024, according to data from the National Securities Depository Ltd., updated till the previous trading day.

• The local currency closed at a new low of Rs 83.543 against the greenback

Source: Bloomberg

India's benchmark indices erased intraday gains to extend its losing streak to fourth session as Axis Bank Ltd. ICICI Bank Ltd., and HDFC Bank Ltd. dragged.

With today's sharp decline, the benchmarks recorded worst losing streak since Oct 26, 2023.

The NSE Nifty 50 settled 152.05 points or 0.69% lower at 21,995.85, and the S&P BSE Sensex ended 454.69 points or 0.62% down at 72,488.99.

The benchmark NSE Nifty 50 index slipped below psychologically-crucial level of 22,000 for the first time since March 26.

Intraday, Nifty rose 0.81% to 22,326.50, and Sensex rose 0.73% to 73,473.05.

Global markets volatility, geo-political tensions in the gulf region and ahead of domestic quarterly results kept the intra-day volatility higher in the markets, Vikas Jain, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities.

"Extreme volatility swings were seen on the weekly expiry day with the morning trade dominated by bulls followed by a steep decline in the mid-session. Follow-up selling dragged the Index further lower to trade below the psychological support of 22,000. With a loss of 152.05 points, Nifty50 ended the day at 21,995.85," said Aditya Gaggar, director, Progressive Shares.

With a bearish engulfing candlestick pattern, the Index has broken its 50-day simple moving average and long trendline support but currently, it is placed at the lower end of the rising channel. The activity of the upcoming day will decide the continuation or reversal of the trend, Gaggar added.

HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., ITC Ltd., and Titan Co. Ltd. dragged on the benchmark indices.

Bharti Airtel ltd., Powergrid Corp of India Ltd., Bajaj Auto Ltd., and Hindalco Industries Ltd. added to the benchmark indices.

On NSE, 11 sectors out of 12 ended lower, and one settled higher. The NSE Nifty Oil and Gas sector declined the most among peers, while the NSE Nifty Media index rose the most.

Broader markets ended on a mixed note. The S&P BSE Midcap settled 0.39% lower, and the S&P BSE Smallcap index settled 0.06% higher.

On BSE, 10 sectors declined, and 10 advanced out of 20. The S&P BSE Consumer Durables sector declined the most, and the S&P BSE Telecommunication rose the most among sectoral indices.

Market breadth was split evenly between buyers and sellers. Around 1904 stocks advanced, 1894 stocks declined, and 131 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

The FPO has been subscribed 0.16 times or 16% as of 3:00 p.m. on Thursday.

• Institutional investors: 0.40 times or 40%.

• Non-institutional investors: 0.12 times or 12%.

• Retail investors: 0.05 times or 5%.

• LTIMindtree Ltd signed a pact with Vodafone Idea Ltd. to deliver IoT solutions.

Source: Exchange filing