The broader market, represented by the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap 100 indices, opened in the green to outperform the benchmarks.
The S&P BSE Sensex opened 229 points lower, or 0.28% at 80,753, while the NSE Nifty 50 was down 76 points, or 0.3%, opening at 24,760.
On the 30-stock Sensex, shares of Bajaj Finance, HUL, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Trent, ICICI Bank, and Maruti Suzuki led the decline, falling up to a percent in opening trade. On the flipside, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, and BEL witnessed buying, rising up to nearly 3%.
Sectorally, the Nifty FMCG index led the fall, down nearly a percent as major counters such as HUL, ITC, Nestle India, and Tata Consumer Products slipped. Auto stocks also fell prey to profit booking as M&M, Eicher Motors, and Maruti Suzuki were down up to 2%.
After eight straight sessions of losses driven by geopolitical jitters and relentless foreign investor selling, benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex staged a strong rebound on Wednesday, largely aided by the pro-market initiatives of the Reserve Bank of India during its monetary policy meeting earlier today, even as the central bank unanimously decided to keep the repo rates unchanged at 5.50%.
ETMarkets.comTop losers in early trade
Expert views
“The positive impact of the central bank’s bold initiatives to boost credit growth in the economy has the potential to sustain the momentum in the market, particularly in Bank Nifty. But this momentum is unlikely to sustain in the context of the sustained FII selling in the market. FIIs are likely to further accelerate selling since the market construct provides them the opportunity to sell aggressively. The huge short position in the market indicates that the bulls will be on the defensive. Aggressive DII buying can provide some support to the market, particularly in the largecap auto stocks, which have strong fundamental support now,” V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd, said.
“The central bank initiatives to accelerate credit flow into the economy will be positive for banks. The stronger banks will gain not only from higher credit growth but also from a lower premium for deposit insurance. The fairly valued largecap banks are attractive buys from a medium to long-term perspective. Auto stocks will continue to be resilient, backed by positive news of large orders and a sharp increase in sales,” he added.
In technical terms, Bajaj Broking said that a long bullish candle emerged after several sessions of range-bound action with a weak bias, suggesting a potential short-term bottom reversal. Nifty has bounced sharply from the critical support zone around 24,400–24,500 (ascending trendline and 200-day EMA), reflecting a positive technical outlook. Both daily and weekly charts indicate a continuation of the higher high–higher low structure, with the recent swing low at 24,587 now serving as the new higher bottom in the ongoing uptrend. Nifty’s short-term trend turned decisively bullish on Wednesday, confirming a near-term bottom reversal pattern. Immediate resistance levels to watch are 25,000 and 25,200 over the next week, while key support is placed at 24,600.
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Global Markets
The S&P 500, which has risen 14% so far this year, was little changed after briefly touching a record high of 6,731.94 points. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4% after also hitting an all-time high of 22,900.60 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%.
Asian stocks were set for solid weekly gains on Friday as growing expectations of a near-term Federal Reserve rate cut helped offset concerns over a potential U.S. government shutdown. The easing worries pushed gold to record highs and weighed on the dollar.
MSCI’s broad Asia-Pacific index was up 0.14%, just below the record it reached on Thursday. The gauge is on track for a gain of more than 2% this week and has advanced 23% so far this year. With China and several other Asian markets closed for holidays, regional trading volumes are expected to remain thin.
In commodities, gold held steady at $3,857 an ounce, near the record high hit on Thursday. The metal is on course for a 2.6% weekly gain, marking its seventh consecutive weekly advance. Considered a safe-haven during uncertainty, gold tends to benefit in a low-interest-rate environment and has surged 47% this year.
FII/DII Tracker
On the institutional front, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth a little over Rs 1,600 crore on October 3, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,916 crore, data from NSE showed.
Crude impact
Oil prices, meanwhile, were headed for their steepest weekly drop since late June amid concerns of oversupply, as markets brace for the possibility that OPEC+ could further increase output.
Rupee vs Dollar
Indian rupee opened flat at 88.68 per dollar on Friday versus previous close of 88.69.The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six other units, was steady on the day but on course for a 0.35% weekly decline, the biggest drop since early August.
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