Nifty extends losses for second-straight session

Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended lower for the second straight session on Friday. Index made a negative start following broadly negative cues from other Asian markets. Soon, market extended its losses. Persistent foreign fund outflow dampened investors’ sentiments. As per exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,721.26 crore on Wednesday. Besides, traders remained cautious as Indian IT industry body Nasscom in its report stated that the US move to replace the H-1B visa lottery with a 'wage-weighted' selection mechanism is a significant departure from a long-standing neutral system, and raises important legal, economic, and operational concerns. In afternoon session, market continued its southward journey and maintained it till the end of the session. Market participants overlooked think tank GTRI’s report stated that India's goods and services exports are likely to grow by 3 per cent to $850 billion in 2025-26. In 2024-25, the overall exports touched $825 billion ($438 billion in merchandise and $387 billion in services). Finally, Nifty ended below 26,050 mark.

Traders were seen piling up positions in Metal, Consumer Durables and FMCG stocks, while selling was witnessed in IT, Media and Auto. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Rail Vikas Nigam, Indian Railway Finance Corporation and NBCC (India). On the other hand, the top losers were Nuvama Wealth Management, Coforge and HFCL. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 26100 - 26300 calls and 25900 - 26100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility decreased by 0.43% and