Share Market Today: The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday are trading lower amid relentless foreign fund outflows and selling in Infosys shares after its Q2 results failed to cheer investors. At 10.50 am, the BSE Sensex dropped 111 points to 80,895. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 24,731, down 18 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys tanked 4 per cent. ITC, Nestle, TechM, Titan, and HCLTech are the other losers. On the flip side, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, NTPC, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank emerged gainers.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are also down by 0.5-1 per cent
Except for the banking sector, all other sectoral indices are trading in the red, with FMCG, IT, oil & gas, and realty sectors down by 1-2 per cent.
In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE Sensex gave up 495 points to end at 81,006, while the NSE Nifty50 closed at 24,748, down 221 points.
"The high valuations in India has been the main trigger for the sustained selling by FIIs," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 7,421.40 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
In Asian markets, Seoul traded lower while Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted in the green. The US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.20 per cent to $74.60 a barrel.
The rupee slipped 1 paisa to 84.07 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, as the weakening American currency failed to support the local unit amid negative domestic equity markets and higher crude oil prices. Forex traders said the unabated outflow of foreign funds also weighed on the domestic unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened flat at 84.06 against the greenback and lost further to 84.07, trading 1 paisa lower from its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee weakened by 4 paise to close at 84.06 against the US dollar.
