Indian stock market opens lower: FII selling and global weakness impact indices

Mumbai: Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Friday, tracking weak global cues and continued selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

As of 9:25 am, the Sensex had fallen 532 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 82,778, while the Nifty slipped 162 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 25,347.

The broader market saw sharper declines, with the Nifty Midcap 100 down 0.89 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 losing 1.26 per cent.

Among the major Nifty gainers were SBI Life Insurance, Trent, Apollo Hospitals, and ICICI Bank, while top losers included TCS, Titan Company, Tata Consumer Products, and Shriram Finance.

Nifty Consumer Durables emerged as the biggest sectoral loser, falling 1.38 per cent. All sectoral indices were in negative territory, with IT, auto, and realty stocks slipping more than 1 per cent.

Analysts said heavy short positions by FIIs were outweighing the buying support from domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and retail participants. They noted that FIIs’ sustained strategy of selling Indian equities and diverting funds to cheaper markets has encouraged further shorting activity.

“Short covering can lead to trend reversal, but there are no immediate triggers for that in sight. Fil selling has reduced the prices of fairly valued large caps, particularly in banking and pharmaceuticals, where growth prospects continue to be bright,” said Dr V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Despite market volatility, India Inc’s second-quarter FY26 earnings were stronger than expected, recording a 14 per cent year-on-year increase, led by companies in key mid-cap sectors.

Overnight, U.S. markets closed lower, with the Nasdaq dropping 1.9 per cent, the S&P 500 down 1.12 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.84 per cent.

Asian markets followed the downturn, mirroring the sell-off on Wall Street amid concerns over stretched valuations in artificial intelligence-related stocks.

In early trading, most Asian indices were in the red. China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen indices fell 0.17 per cent each, Japan’s Nikkei lost 2.16 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.98 per cent, and South Korea’s Kospi declined 2.57 per cent.

On Thursday, FIIs sold equities worth ₹3,263 crore, while DIIs were net buyers to the tune of ₹5,284 crore, according to exchange data.

IANS