Indian equity benchmarks opened lower on Thursday as continued foreign institutional investor (FII) selling weighed on market sentiment, while weakness in auto and cement stocks added to the pressure.
The Sensex opened at 72,192.89, down 287.39 points, or 0.39 per cent. The Nifty 50 fell 76.75 points, or 0.34 per cent, to open at 22,543.70.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto, Nifty Cement, Nifty Realty, Nifty Media and Nifty Healthcare emerged among the biggest laggards, declining by up to 2.76 per cent in early trade. Energy, metal and pharma stocks also remained under pressure, with their indices falling between 0.86 per cent and 0.95 per cent.
Nifty IT bucked the trend, gaining more than 1 per cent, while the Nifty Private Bank index rose 0.60 per cent during early trading.
FII selling remained a key concern for investors. Provisional data showed that FIIs remained net sellers for the fifth consecutive session on Wednesday, offloading equities worth more than Rs 10,148 crore.
Domestic institutional investors (DIIs), however, continued to support the market. They purchased equities worth around Rs 11,271 crore during Wednesday’s session.
FIIs sold equities worth Rs 45,536 crore through exchanges in September, while investing Rs 9,676 crore through the primary market.
Analysts said continued FII outflows and rising US bond yields could keep large-cap stocks under pressure in the near term. The Nifty has immediate support around 22,500-22,550, while resistance remains at 22,800-22,900.
Investors are also tracking Brent crude oil prices. Analysts said a decline in crude prices below $98 per barrel could provide some relief to Indian equities.
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