Stock markets decline in early trade dragged by IT firms; RBI policy in focus

Mumbai: Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Friday, dragged down by IT heavyweights amida weak trend in the US equities.

Investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of the RBI policy announcement later in the day and fresh foreign fund outflows.

Extending its previous day’s decline, the 30-share BSE Sensex edged lower by 225.15 points to 83,088.78. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 89.25 points to 25,553.55.

From the Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Asian Paints, NTPC, and HCL Tech were among the major laggards.

Gainers

Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index traded lower, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index and Shanghai’s SSE Composite index quoted higher.

US markets ended lower on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite index tumbled 1.59 per cent, S&P 500 declined 1.23 per cent, and Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.20 per cent.

“Global equity markets are trading with a pronounced risk-off bias following sharp losses in the overnight US session. Weakness in global technology stocks and commodities continues to weigh on sentiment, with selling pressure extending into Asian markets,” Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

Ongoing correction in global tech

The ongoing correction in global technology names reflects a combination of stretched valuations, rising AI-related cost concerns, and muted investor response to recent big-tech earnings and outlooks, he added.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 2,150.51 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

“FIIs again turning sellers in India and increasing their short positions in the derivative markets indicates further weakness in the market in the near-term,” VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 0.37 per cent to USD 67.71 per barrel.

On Thursday, the Sensex dropped 503.76 points, or 0.60 per cent, to settle at 83,313.93. The Nifty declined 133.20 points, or 0.52 per cent, to end at 25,642.80.