Sensex, Nifty fall amid caution ahead of inflation data

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty declined on Monday due to selling pressure in IT, consumer durables and financial stocks as investors turned cautious ahead of the release of inflation data.

Besides, persistent foreign fund outflows and weakness in the rupee hit investor sentiments, traders said.

Giving up Diwali day gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 325.58 points or 0.50 per cent to settle at 64,933.87. During the day, it dropped 406.09 points or 0.62 per cent to 64,853.36.

The Nifty declined 82 points or 0.42 per cent to 19,443.55.

“Post-Diwali, Indian equities continued consolidation amid global uncertainty. The sharp deceleration in IIP growth, from 10.3 per cent in August to 5.8 per cent in September, and weakening manufacturing PMI reflect global trends driven by rising interest rates and inflation.

“The Indian rupee’s weakness keeps FIIs cautious. However, the market’s downside is limited by strong earnings, economic stability, and domestic institutional flows,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Among the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Nestle, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries were the major laggards.

In contrast, Mahindra & Mahindra, JSW Steel, NTPC, Power Grid and IndusInd Bank were among the gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.10 per cent, while the smallcap index dipped 0.01 per cent.

Among the BSE indices, IT declined by 0.77 per cent, consumer durables fell by 0.75 per cent, teck (0.66 per cent), FMCG (0.39 per cent), services (0.20 per cent) and financial services (0.17 per cent).

On the other hand, energy, utilities, power and auto were the gainers.

“Markets started the week on a feeble note and lost nearly half a per cent, tracking weak global cues,” Ajit Mishra, SVP – Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

India’s industrial production growth decelerated to 5.8 per cent in September from 10.3 per cent in August, though on an annual basis, the output of manufacturing and mining sectors showed an improvement, according to the official data released on Friday.

Inflation data will be released later in the day.

In Asian markets, Seoul settled in the negative territory while Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green.

European markets were trading with gains. The US markets ended with significant gains on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.20 per cent to USD 81.27 a barrel.

Stock exchanges conducted a one-hour special Muhurat trading session on the occasion of Diwali on November 12.

The BSE benchmark jumped 354.77 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 65,259.45 on the first trading session of Samvat 2080 on Sunday. The broader Nifty advanced 100.20 points or 0.52 per cent to 19,525.55.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 190.06 crore on Sunday, according to exchange data.

The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled lower by 4 paise at 83.32 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, tracking a negative trend in domestic equities.

Equity markets will remain closed on Tuesday for ‘Diwali Balipratipada’.