By – Rohit Dwivedi
The Indian stock market witnessed volatility today as both the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened on a positive note but quickly succumbed to selling pressure from investors. Early trading saw the Sensex drop by 151.36 points, or 0.19%, to 81,557.76, while the Nifty slipped by 37.45 points, or 0.15%, to 24,640.35.
Despite the initial decline, buyers showed resilience at lower levels, helping both indices stabilize by late morning. As of 11:27 AM, the market appeared to have regained its composure, with both Sensex and Nifty hovering around their opening levels.
The market’s direction was also influenced by foreign institutional investors (FII) pulling back their investments, contributing to the bearish sentiment. Additionally, the Indian Rupee depreciated by five paise against the US Dollar, trading at 84.71 in early transactions, which further dampened market sentiment.
Sectoral Performance: Among the 30 stocks listed on the Sensex, the worst performers included Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India, Ultratech Cement, Infosys, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Tata Steel, which saw significant declines. On the other hand, stocks like Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharmaceuticals, HDFC Bank, and NTPC showed the strongest gains.
Global Market Influence: Asian markets were mostly negative, with Seoul, Hong Kong, and Shanghai trading in the red, while Tokyo managed to show a positive trend. Retail Research Head at HDFC Securities, Deepak Jasani, pointed out that Asian markets began the week cautiously, with investors focusing on political unrest in South Korea and waiting for new stimulus measures from China.
Jasani also highlighted the upcoming central bank decisions in countries such as Australia, the European Central Bank, Canada, Switzerland, and Brazil, which could further impact global market sentiment. Meanwhile, US markets closed mixed last Friday, and the global oil benchmark, Brent Crude, rose 0.41% to $71.41 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Selling: Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) were net sellers on Friday, offloading shares worth ₹1,830.31 crores after several days of continuous buying. As a result, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex closed lower by 56.74 points, or 0.07%, at 81,709.12, while the Nifty fell by 30.60 points to close at 24,677.80.
The mixed market sentiment, combined with domestic and global factors, suggests that investors are treading cautiously, awaiting more clarity on economic and policy developments.