Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty Log Worst Weekly Losing Streak In 16 Months; FPIs Turn Net Sellers

Overseas investors turned net sellers of Indian equities on Friday after a two-day buying streak.

Foreign portfolio investors offloaded stocks worth Rs 4,638.2 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange. That's the highest volume of selling since Jan. 31.

Domestic institutional investors remained net buyers and mopped up equities worth Rs 1,414.35 crore, the NSE data showed.

Foreign institutions have been net buyers of Rs 1,33,715 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 7.20% on Friday.

Source: Bloomberg

• The local currency weakened 8 paise to close at Rs 82.66 against the U.S dollar on Friday.

• It closed at 82.58 on Thursday.

Source: Bloomberg

India's benchmark stock indices traded lower through Friday following a global selloff. Banks, healthcare and realty sectors dragged the market. Indices slipped for second consecutive session.

Sensex ended below 65,000 level for the first time in a week since Aug. 18, while Nifty closed below 19,300 mark for the first time since June 30, 2023. The indices declined for the fifth straight week, the longest streak since the beginning of the week on April 15, 2022.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed down 366 points, or 0.56%, at 64,886.51, while the NSE Nifty 50 was 121 points, or 0.62%, lower at 19,265.80.

European benchmarks were set to end the week higher, as investors were cautious on taking positions before Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech from Jackson Hole.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 edged up, poised for its first weekly advance in four. Commodity shares led gains as oil and iron ore prices climbed. Asian stocks slumped, tracking overnight Wall Street losses.

Equity markets in Japan, Australia, South Korea and China all slipped with declines prominent in Hong Kong-listed technology stocks, echoing heavy selling in U.S. tech shares.

Bajaj Finserv Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd., Asian Paints Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. were positively adding to the change in the Nifty 50 Index.

Whereas, HDFC Bank Ltd., ITC Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., and State Bank of India were negatively contributing to the change.

The broader market indices closed lower; the S&P BSE MidCap Index was down 0.85%, whereas S&P BSE SmallCap Index was 0.24% lower.

Nineteen out of the 20 sectors compiled by BSE declined while S&P BSE Telecommunication rose. S&P BSE Capital Goods and S&P BSE Realty fell the most.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the sellers. About 1489 stocks rose, 2152 declined, while 122 remained unchanged on the BSE.

On a weekly basis, the headline indices declined for the fifth straight week. This was the longest streak of weekly losses since April 2022. Indices fell for five weeks before this from April 15, 2022 to May 13, 2022. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.10% and NSE Nifty 50 was lower by 0.23%, this week.

Last week, indices declined for the fourth time in a row, as S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.51% and NSE Nifty 50 was lower by 0.58%, as well.

Nifty Midcap 100, Smallcap 100, IT and Bank gained the most this week, whereas Pharma, Energy and Auto sectors dropped.

• Bags 201.6 MW order from O2 Power Private.

• To supply 64 of their largest wind turbines with a rated capacity of 3.15 MW each.

• Project to be completed in 2025.

• Project will curb 6.55 lakh tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

Source: Exchange Filing