Indian stocks remained under pressure on Thursday. As of the time of writing, the Nifty 50 fell 0.61% to 22,481.85 points, while the BSE Sensex dropped 0.51% to 72,107.63 points. If the week ends in the red, both major indices will record their eighth consecutive weekly decline — which would be the longest weekly losing streak in 25 years.
Meanwhile, the Indian market was closed on Friday for a local holiday. Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, founder and chief executive officer of HST Wealth, said: "Since the market is closed tomorrow, today's trading shows characteristics of cautious position adjustment ahead of a long holiday."
Foreign Selling Intensity Surges, Record Net Sales for the Year
Data shows that on September 30 alone, foreign investors net sold approximately $1.06 billion (about 101.48 billion rupees) of Indian stocks.
By comparison, foreign investors sold a total of about $3.6 billion over the previous five trading sessions, averaging about $720 million per day. Wednesday's single-day selling intensity was significantly larger than this average.
Cumulatively, foreign net selling has reached $27.8 billion year-to-date, setting a historical record.
Hariselvan Radhakrishnan noted: "Continued foreign outflows, combined with high borrowing costs, continue to weigh on market sentiment — although the recent decline in crude oil prices has provided some buffer."
The Friday closure means investors cannot adjust positions in time after overnight risk events, which to some extent intensified the cautious sentiment during Thursday's session.
Brent crude oil futures fell to around $97 per barrel on Thursday. Earlier, Iran said it had received a reply from the United States to its latest ceasefire proposal, while U.S. President Trump had publicly rejected the proposal in the preceding days. The decline in crude oil prices has provided some breathing room for a market recently pressured by surging energy prices.
Sector Divergence: Autos Lead Declines, IT Bucks the Trend
Of the 16 major sectors, 11 recorded losses.
The auto sector saw the most significant decline, with the auto index falling 2.4%. Among them, Bajaj Auto plunged 6% on the day, while Mahindra & Mahindra fell 2.4%, as both companies reported declining domestic sales figures.
The small-cap index and mid-cap index fell 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively.
The IT sector, however, rose 0.9% against the trend. Previously released data showed that U.S. inflation rose less than expected in August, reducing the probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike this month and boosting sentiment toward technology stocks.
Among individual stocks, Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 3%. The bank announced the appointment of Anup Kumar Saha as its new chief executive officer for a three-year term, succeeding Ashok Vaswani.
Comments