Indian equity benchmarks made a slightly positive start on Friday but failed to hold gains and slipped below neutral lines in early deals. Initially, markets took encouragement with easing crude oil prices and falling US Treasury yields. Buying in IT, TECK stocks, following upbeat results also supported the markets. However, traders turned cautious as Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 5,285 crore in the cash market for the 15th consecutive session. Besides, selling pressure in market heavyweight Reliance Industries, weighted on markets sentiments.
Market participants were also analyzing the impact of a regulatory reversal on the closing auction session. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said it would use volume-weighted average prices from the final 30 minutes of regular trading to settle expiring stock and index derivatives contracts. The move reverses its earlier decision to use the closing auction session (CAS) following pushback from traders.
Investors overlooked positive global cues, with most of the Asian markets trading higher as investors bought beaten-down technology shares following a sharp selloff driven by concerns over debt financing for the artificial intelligence boom and intensifying competition from China. Indonesia’s equity market bucked the regional recovery, with the Jakarta Composite plunging to its steepest one-day fall in nearly three decades after MSCI proposed reclassifying the country from emerging-market to standalone-market status.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74178.98, down by 136.63 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 74012.99 and 74504.34. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.43%, TECK up by 2.20%, Telecom up by 1.01% and Metal up by 0.07%, while Energy down by 1.39%, Oil & Gas down by 1.12%, Power down by 0.90%, FMCG down by 0.80% and Capital Goods down by 0.65% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 5.39%, Infosys up by 3.60%, TCS up by 2.78%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.26% and HCL Technologies up by 0.60%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 2.18%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.17%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.07%, ITC down by 1.00% and Asian Paints down by 0.95% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said that India's wholesale and retail inflation possibly will accelerate to over 12 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, in October due to an adverse base effect, unfavourable weather conditions and an energy price shock. The adverse base effect is also expected to keep wholesale price pressures elevated at least until February 2027, with Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation likely to remain in double digits. However, the agency said inflation could be lower if the crisis in West Asia is resolved.
Ind-Ra further said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could raise policy rates by 50-75 basis points in the current tightening cycle. WPI inflation surged to a series high of 11.39 per cent in September, up from 9.92 per cent in August. Meanwhile, retail inflation rose to a 23-month high of 5.54 per cent in September, compared with 4.83 per cent in the previous month.
Wholesale inflation responds immediately to changes in energy prices, particularly those of petroleum products. In contrast, the impact on retail inflation depends on government interventions, including changes in taxes and duties, as well as adjustments in retail fuel prices. Pump prices have not kept pace with movements in global crude oil and petroleum product prices. A weakening rupee has also contributed to higher inflation.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22963.65, down by 33.70 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 22913.80 and 23076.55. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 5.52%, Infosys up by 3.96%, TCS up by 3.22%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.28% and HCL Technologies up by 0.96%. On the flip side, BSE down by 2.47%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.33%, JIO Financial Services down by 1.71%, Reliance Industries down by 1.42% and Shriram Finance down by 1.34% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 1119.05 points or 1.71% to 65,545.00, Taiwan Weighted jumped 287.95 points or 0.61% to 47,257.82, Hang Seng rose 287.28 points or 1.18% to 24,350.00, KOSPI advanced 196.44 points or 3.42% to 5,750.66, Shanghai Composite strengthened 35.18 points or 0.94% to 3,742.66 and Straits Times added 2.31 points or 0.04% to 5,442.58, while Jakarta Composite plunged 621.08 points or 11.85% to 5,242.70.
