Indian equity benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and Nifty50, opened in green but quickly slipped in red on Friday. While BSE Sensex slipped below 80,000, Nifty50 was below 24,300. At 10:07 AM, BSE Sensex was trading at 79,672.17, down 393 points or 0.49%. Nifty50 was at 24,257.50, down 142 points or 0.58%.
The index has been consolidating due to persistent foreign outflows and lackluster earnings reports.
Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management at Motilal Oswal, stated, “We expect this range-bound move (Nifty hovering around the 24400-24500 zone) to continue in the absence of any major triggers, while the earning season would drive sectorial rotation. Key results tomorrow – BEL, Chola Investment, JSW Steel, HPCL, Coal India, and BPCL.”
Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities noted that a sustainable move above 24,600-24,700 levels could confirm the extent of an upside bounce in the market, while a slide below 24,300 could trigger further weakness in the near term.
In the United States, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 gained on Thursday, driven by Tesla’s positive earnings forecast and a decline in Treasury yields from a three-month high, which improved market sentiment despite some disappointing corporate results.
Asian equities were little changed on Friday after Wall Street rallied for the first time this week. S&P 500 futures were flat as of 9:10 a.m. Tokyo time, while Japan’s Topix fell 0.6%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4%, and Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.3%.
Oil prices increased on Friday and are on track for a weekly gain of more than 1%, as tensions in the Middle East and the potential restart of Gaza ceasefire talks kept traders on edge.
Several stocks are in the F&O ban period today, including NMDC, RBL Bank, Manappuram, Aarti Industries, Escorts, Indiamart, IEX, PEL, and Bandhan Bank. These securities have crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.
Foreign portfolio investors turned net sellers at Rs 5,062 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 3,620 crore.
The net short position of FIIs reduced from Rs 1.69 lakh crore on Wednesday to Rs 1.47 lakh crore on Thursday.