Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in morning deals, as global markets remained cautious amid uncertainty over Russian oil supplies and the continuing Gulf conflict. Traders also remained cautious as exchange data showed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,568.90 crore on a net basis on Friday. Some concern also came as the RBI data showed India's forex reserves dropped by $12.952 billion to $734.606 billion during the week ended October 2. The overall reserves had dropped by $18.343 billion to $747.557 billion in the previous reporting week ended September 25.
Both Sensex and Nifty were trading lower in morning deals, but the indices showed a divergence in losses. Sensex unperformed Nifty by losing 0.30%, while Nifty was trading marginally lower amid broad-based selling in heavyweight stocks. Telecom and TECK stocks came under heavy selling pressure, dragging the headline indices lower.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as traders remain cautious about the developments in the Middle East as US President Donald trump said he may join Saudi Arabia in retaliating against Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen following another deadly attack on Riyadh's international airport and tanker attacks near the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72255.11, down by 217.22 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 72216.49 and 72884.25. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.50%, Auto up by 1.28%, Industrials up by 1.15%, Metal up by 1.13% and Realty up by 1.04%, while Telecom down by 1.14%, TECK down by 0.77%, FMCG down by 0.26% and Bankex down by 0.25% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.62%, Tata Steel up by 1.58%, Bharat Electronics up by 1.52%, Trent up by 1.34% and Maruti Suzuki India up by 0.61%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.71%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.15%, ITC down by 1.50%, State Bank of India down by 1.01% and Axis Bank down by 0.69% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, the data released by the government has showed that Japan has emerged as the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India during April-June of the current fiscal year (Q1FY27). FDI inflows from Japan stood at $5.71 billion in Q1FY27, surpassing the $3.74 billion India received from the country during the entire 2025-26 fiscal year. It was $2.48 billion in the entire 2024-25 fiscal year.
The data showed the foreign inflows from Japan account for nearly 29 per cent of the total equity inflows ($19.81 billion) which India received during the quarter. The investments from Japan are important as Japan had set a target of investing 10 trillion yen (about Rs seven lakh crore) in India in over a decade.
Besides, last month, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visited Japan to further boost bilateral trade and investment ties between the countries. According to him, Japanese firms have already invested Rs 1 lakh crore of the 10 trillion Yen (around Rs 6 lakh crore) investment target in India over a decade, as committed in 2025.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22500.55, down by 19.90 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 22472.15 and 22651.10. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 3.06%, Tata Steel up by 1.81%, JSW Steel up by 1.46%, Dr. Reddy's up by 1.45% and Bharat Electronics up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.04%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.92%, ITC down by 1.41%, State Bank of India down by 1.21% and NTPC down by 0.85% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 17.65 points or 0.07% to 24,229.00, Straits Times rose 17.82 points or 0.33% to 5,419.71 and Taiwan Weighted added 41.82 points or 0.08% to 49,355.26. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite plunged 115.78 points or 1.9% to 5,977.98, Shanghai Composite weakened 6.24 points or 0.16% to 3,807.55 and KOSPI dropped 169.70 points or 2.56% to 6,456.23.
