Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty Register Longest Losing Streak In Seven Months, FPIs Turn Net Sellers

India's benchmark stock indices fell for the sixth day on Thursday following geopolitical uncertainties stemming from the Israel-Hamas war and resultant rise in crude prices, coupled with higher-for-longer U.S. rates. The headline indices logged the longest stretch of losses in over seven month since February-March 2023.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed down 900 points, or 1.41%, at 63,148.15, while the NSE Nifty 50 was 265 points or 1.39% lower at 18,857.25. Intraday, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.49% to 63,092.98 and NSE Nifty 50 slipped 1.49% to 18,837.85, the lowest levels since June 27.

"As long as the index is trading below 19,000, the weak sentiment is likely to continue till 18,800-18,725 levels. On the flip side, one relief rally is possible only after the dismissal of 19,000 and above the same, the index could move up till 19,100-19,150.”, said Shrikant Chouhan, the head of equity research (retail) at Kotak Securities Ltd.

Metal, Auto and financial services sectors dragged as all sectoral indices declined. Sensex has fallen 4.94% in the last six sessions and it was down 7% from it's life high scaled on Sept. 15. Nifty, on the other hand, slipped 4.82% in six days and was down 6.8% from its all-time high.

"The strongest headwind for the market is the stubbornly high U.S. bond yields. With the 10-year bond yield at near 5% FPIs are likely to be in the sell mode. Sectors like banking and I.T. which constitute the largest segments of the AUM of FPIs are likely to be under pressure. This will provide opportunities for long-term investors to buy quality stocks, particularly in banking, at attractive rates.".," according to Dr. V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Broader markets recovered from day's low to pare some losses. Nifty Smallcap 250 recovered over 300 points and Nifty Midcap 150 recovered over 150 points after declining to the lowest levels in two months intraday since August 2023.

"The largecap is much better poised than the midcap and smallcap, but the larger flows we are seeing is going towards the broader market", Vaibhav Sanghavi, chief operating officer at ASK hedge Solutions told BQ Prime.

Nasdaq index futures fell about 1%, as investors punished companies reporting weaker-than-expected earnings. Meta Inc. sank 4% in U.S. pre-market trading and Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. lost 2.3%.

The bearish mood carried over to other markets, with European and Asian equities also recording steep losses. In Asia, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index was set for its lowest in almost a year, with benchmarks in South Korea and Japan sliding more than 2% each. Stocks in Hong Kong erased gains and mainland China edged up continuing from the previous session when fresh stimulus measures soothed sentiment.

HDFC Bank Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., and Mahindra & mahindra Ltd. were negatively adding to the change in the Nifty 50 Index.

Whereas, Axis Bank Ltd., ITC Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd., IndusInd Bank Ltd. and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd. were positively contributing to the change.

The broader market indices declined; the S&P BSE MidCap Index was down 1.06%, whereas S&P BSE SmallCap Index was 0.32% lower.

Nineteen the 20 sectors compiled by BSE declined, while S&P BSE Utilities and S&P BSE Power advanced. S&P BSE Auto, S&P BSE Metal, S&P BSE Oil and Gas fell the most.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the sellers. About 1,433 stocks rose, 2,226 declined, while 141 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Monthly futures and options expiry also aided to the fall on Thursday's session. "It's a simple 'wait and watch' moment. Given the current state, opening new positions is not advisable." said Shrey Jain, Founder and chief operation officer of SAS online.