Stock market fails to hold gains: Sensex declines 215 points, Nifty down 107.25 points

Indian equity benchmarks opened lower on Thursday as persistent foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiment, while easing crude oil prices below the $100-per-barrel mark provided some support.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 215 points to 72,257.30 in early trade, while the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 107.25 points to 22,518.90.

The rupee also weakened at the open, slipping 15 paise to 95.98 against the US dollar, compared with Wednesday’s close of 95.83.

Among Sensex constituents, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, UltraTech Cement, Bharat Electronics, Eternal and Asian Paints were among the major laggards.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services and Axis Bank were among the gainers.

FII Selling Remains A Concern

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹10,148.41 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

“The sustained FII selling became intense during the last two trading days when the FIIs sold equity for a total of ₹20,128 crore,” V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, said.

He noted that rising US 10-year Treasury yields could keep pressure on foreign flows. Vijayakumar also pointed to what he described as a divergence in FII activity, with foreign investors continuing to participate in primary-market investments and buying mid- and small-cap stocks despite selling through exchanges.

Crude Falls Below $100

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.92% lower at $97.13 per barrel, offering some relief to Indian markets after the recent surge in energy prices.

Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder and CEO of HST Wealth, said the domestic market remained under pressure after extending its decline, with September recording the Nifty’s steepest monthly fall since March.

He said foreign selling and elevated global borrowing costs continued to weigh on sentiment, while lower crude prices and softer US inflation provided some support.

Asian Markets Trade Higher

In Asia, South Korea’s KOSPI and Japan’s Nikkei 225 were trading higher, while US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the Sensex fell 48.78 points, or 0.07%, to 72,480.29, while the Nifty declined 95.75 points, or 0.42%, to close at 22,620.45.