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Informist, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024

By Alina Geogy

MUMBAI – The domestic equity markets fell again Friday on worries about the conflict in West Asia widening, outflows of foreign investor funds, expensive valuations, concerns over wider losses in upcoming sessions, and recent curbs imposed on the derivatives market by the market regulator. Benchmark indices fell for the fifth consecutive session, falling nearly 5% during the week.

The Nifty 50 rose slightly in the early part of the day's session after initial weakness. But the index failed to sustain the gains and fell below 25000 points, eventually settling at 25014.60 points, down 0.9%. The Sensex ended at 81688.45, down 1%.

The broader market also took a hit from the sell-off, with the Nifty Midcap 50 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices falling over 1% each. Nearly 61% of all NSE-traded stocks ended lower, while only 36% ended higher, indicating a bearish approach amid the aggravating situation in West Asia and foreign outflows. Barring the Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty IT, all sectoral indices ended lower. Nifty Media was down 2.6% and Nifty FMCG closed 1.7% lower to become the worst-hit sectoral indices.

The domestic market regulator's latest measures to reduce participation in the futures and options segment, which could hamper liquidity in the market, coupled with developments in West Asia, are affecting investor sentiment, Kushal Gandhi, technical analyst at Stoxbox, said.

The clash between Israel and Iran this week raised concerns that the region might see a full-fledged war. This led to a surge in crude oil prices on worries about possible supply disruptions. At 1807 IST, the December Brent crude oil futures contract traded on the Intercontinental Exchange was up 0.5% at $78.02 per barrel.

The rise in crude oil prices affected several Indian stocks again Friday. Shares of oil marketing companies such as Bharat Petroleum Corp., Hindustan Petroleum Corp., and Indian Oil Corp. extended losses for the third session in a row. On the other hand, shares of upstream oil firms Oil and Natural Gas Corp. and Oil India rose.

Investors also reacted to quarterly business updates by companies. Shares of Avenue Supermarts fell over 4% after the company's quarterly business updates. Broking firm Morgan Stanley said it was awaiting clarity on the company's slower growth rate. Goldman Sachs cut estimates for earnings per share by 2% for 2025-27 while reiterating its 'buy' rating.

Shares of Bajaj Finance fell 3% and were the second worst-hit in the Nifty 50 after its operational updates for Jul-Sept. Morgan Stanley expects the firm's net profit for Jul-Sept to be weak, weighed down by higher credit cost and low net interest margin, according to an ET Now report. 

Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra ended over 3% lower and were the worst hit in the Nifty 50 index. Morgan Stanley had reiterated its "overweight" rating for the stock. Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services shares fell nearly 7% and were the worst-hit in the Nifty 200 after the company's overall disbursements fell 1% on year in the September quarter.

Among the newest entrants on the bourse, shares of Diffusion Engineers ended nearly 21% higher after listing at INR 193.50 on the National Stock Exchange at a 15.2% premium to the issue price. The stock hit the upper circuit soon after listing and trading in the counter was suspended for the rest of the session.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 10 rose and 40 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 6 rose and 24 fell

* On the NSE, 1,055 stocks rose, 1,779 fell, and 83 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,563 stocks rose, 2,387 fell, and 104 were unchanged

* Nifty Media: down 2.6%; Nifty FMCG: down 1.7%; Nifty PSU Bank: up 0.5%

BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 81688.45, down 808.65 points or 0.98%     Nifty 50: 25014.60, down 235.50 points or 0.93%

End

Edited by Vidhi Verma and Rajeev Pai

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