Mumbai– Indian equity indices opened lower on Friday, with major heavyweights such as Axis Bank and Bharti Airtel among the top losers on the BSE benchmark index.
At 9:25 a.m., the Sensex was down 171 points, or 0.21 percent, at 82,087, while the Nifty declined 35 points, or 0.14 percent, to 25,075.
Among the top gainers in the Sensex pack were M&M, Tata Steel, Power Grid, L&T, UltraTech Cement, Infosys, Tata Motors, BEL, NTPC, TCS, Trent, and Maruti Suzuki. Leading the losses were Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Eternal (Zomato), HUL, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Titan, and Bajaj Finserv.
Sector-wise, auto, IT, PSU banks, metal, realty, media, energy, infrastructure, PSEs, and commodities were showing gains, while financial services, FMCG, and private banks were trading in the red.
“In July so far, India has underperformed most global markets, with a 1.6 percent dip in the Nifty. A major driver of the decline is foreign institutional investor (FII) selling. This year, FIIs have shown a clear pattern,” said Dr. V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
“They were net sellers in the first three months, net buyers in the next three, and in the seventh month, they appear to be turning sellers again—unless some positive triggers reverse the trend.”
On July 17, FIIs were net sellers for the second consecutive session, offloading equities worth Rs 3,694 crore. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued their buying streak for the ninth straight session, purchasing equities worth Rs 2,820 crore.
Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities, noted that the Nifty declined for the fifth time in seven sessions on Thursday but is still holding above a rising trendline drawn from the May 9 low.
“Technically, Thursday’s candle formed a bearish engulfing pattern, which aligns with our earlier observation that the index needs a close above 25,245—and ideally 25,340—for bulls to regain strength,” he said. “Support remains at 25,000, with 25,340 as a key resistance level. Asian cues are mostly positive this morning, along with U.S. index futures.”
Major Asian markets were trading higher. Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Jakarta posted gains, while Tokyo and Seoul were trading lower. U.S. markets closed in the green on Thursday, supported by positive investor sentiment. (Source: IANS)
