Sensex down 100 pts, at 80,900, Nifty at 24,750; Financials up, IT drags

Indian benchmark equity indices were trading lower on Friday, amid continued selling by FIIs during October, which has weighed on market performance for the month.

At 10 AM, the BSE Sensex was down 392 points, or 0.48 per cent, at 80,614, while the Nifty 50 was at 24,645, down 105 points, or 0.42 per cent.

On the BSE Sensex, only three stocks, Axis Bank (up 2.41 per cent), followed by TCS and Tata Motors, were the only gainers, while loses were capped by Infosys (down 2.19 per cent), followed by Titan, Maruti Suzuki India, IndusInd Bank, and Mahindra & Mahindra.

On the Nifty 50, too, only six stocks were trading in the green. Gains were led by Wipro (up 2.96 per cent), followed by Axis Bank, Eicher Motors, TCS, and Sun Pharma. On the flip side, loses were capped by Shriram Finance (down 2.72 per cent), followed by Infosys, Maruti Suzuki India, BPCL, and Titan.

Among sectoral indices, the Consumer Durables index was the top drag, down 1.33 per cent, followed by the Oil & Gas and Realty indices. Apart from that, all other sectoral indices were also trading in the red, barring Private Bank.

In the broader markets, meanwhile, the Nifty Smallcap 100 was down 1.67 per cent, followed by the Nifty Midcap 100, which was down 1.11 per cent, while India’s risk gauge, India VIX was up 3.64 per cent.

Benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 had closed in the red in the previous session amid expiry of Nifty 50 contracts, coupled with continued selling by FIIs for most days in October.

The BSE Sensex closed 495 points, or 0.61 per cent lower at 81,006, while the Nifty 50 ended in the red at 24,750, down 221 points or 0.89 per cent.

The broader indices also ended on a lower note, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices settling down by over 1 per cent each.

Among the sectoral indices, the Nifty IT index bucked the trend, ending 1.19 per cent higher. However, all other sectoral indices ended in the red, with Nifty Auto and Realty being the worst-hit, both declining by over 3 per cent each.

Asia-Pacific markets, meanwhile, were trading on a mixed note on Friday as investors assessed crucial GDP growth data from China and Japan’s inflation figures.

China’s economy expanded 4.6 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier, official data showed, slightly beating analysts’

expectations, and maintaining pressure on policymakers as they consider more stimulus measures.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected third-quarter GDP to have grown 4.5 per cent from a year earlier, slowing from 4.7 per cent in the previous three months.

The country is also scheduled to release its house price index for September at 9:30 AM local time.

Meanwhile, headline inflation in Japan for September was recorded at 2.5 per cent, while core CPI, which excludes fresh food prices, rose to 2.4 per cent, slightly above Reuters estimates of 2.3 per cent.

Following that, the Nikkei 225 was trading 0.4 per cent higher, and the broader Topix index was ahead by 0.4 per cent.

South Korea’s blue-chip Kospi was down 0.25 per cent, while the small-cap Kosdaq was down over 1 per cent.

In China, the CSI 300 was up 0.18 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite was ahead by 0.09 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was higher by 0.98 per cent.

The dollar also hovered close to an 11-week high versus major peers on Friday after robust US economic data allowed for a more patient path of Federal Reserve easing.

The US currency was buoyed by recent market contemplation of a potential election victory for Donald Trump, whose proposed tariffs and immigration policies are seen as inflationary. That also supported gold, which held close to the record high reached overnight.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against six rivals including the euro and yen, held steady at 103.78 after climbing to 103.87 on Thursday for the first time since August 2.

Overnight, data showed US retail sales rose a stronger-than-expected 0.4 per cent last month after an unrevised 0.1 per cent gain in August. A separate report showed initial jobless claims dropped by 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 241,000 last week.

Traders now have 74 per cent odds of 50 basis points of interest-rate cuts over the Fed’s remaining two meetings this year, down from 85.6 per cent odds a day earlier, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

The European Central Bank cut rates by a quarter point on Thursday, as expected, and four sources close to the matter told Reuters that policymakers were likely to cut again in December.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ edge over Republican Donald Trump has narrowed from a late September lead of seven points to just three, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows. And the rivals are statistically tied in the seven crucial battleground states that will decide the race.

Weakness in the yen helped lift Japanese stocks on Friday, with the Nikkei gaining 0.4 per cent. Equities around the rest of the region were weak though: Australia’s benchmark sagged 0.7 per cent and South Korea’s KOSPI edged 0.05 per cent lower.

Gold was steady at $2,693.02 per ounce, sticking close to the record $2,696.59 from overnight.

Crude oil futures inched higher on Friday, supported by a surprise drop in US oil inventories and simmering Middle East tensions.

Brent crude futures rose 16 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $74.61 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $70.84 a barrel, up 17 cents, or 0.2 per cent.