The domestic equity markets opened on Friday with a negative performance due to heightened geopolitical tensions and the ongoing Q4 earnings season. Sensex was down 0.51% or 400 points at 77,263, while Nifty saw a 0.41% decline of 100 points in early trade, mainly driven by panic selling in IT, financial, and pharma stocks. Notably, FMCG and chemical stocks provided some support amidst the overall downturn.
Cipla, Infosys, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Sun Pharma, TCS, and ICICI Bank were identified as the top laggards in the market. Various sectors experienced declines, with the Nifty IT index falling by 1.57%, the Nifty Private Bank index by 0.31%, and the Nifty Pharma index by 0.27%. Analysts are advising a cautious and selective investment approach given the current global uncertainties and high volatility.
Market experts recommend investors to consider accumulating fundamentally strong stocks during market corrections. They suggest that initiating fresh long positions should be done cautiously, waiting for the Nifty to decisively break above and sustain the 24,500 level, indicating a positive shift in sentiment and a potential sustained bullish trend. Market sentiment remains fragile and heavily influenced by news developments, especially geopolitical events and fluctuations in crude oil prices.
Brent crude oil prices surged nearly 2% to $107 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by around 2% to $97.6 from the previous close. In Asian markets, the Nikkei was up by 0.43% at 59,394, the Hang Seng declined by 0.37% to 25,819, and the KOSPI fell by 0.40% to 6,450.15. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling streak for the fourth consecutive session on Thursday, offloading equities worth Rs 3,254 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 941 crore.
