Mumbai: Indian equity markets were trading in the red on Friday following weak cues from US markets.
At 9:47 A.M., the Sensex was down 279 points, or 0.34 percent, at 82,216, and the Nifty was down 69 points, or 0.27 percent, at 25,180.
Mid- and small-cap stocks drove selling. The Nifty midcap 100 index was down 413 points, or 0.70 percent, at 58,652, and the Nifty small-cap 100 index was down 75 points, or 0.40 percent, at 18,876.
In the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, L&T, SBI, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Nestle and M&M were the top losers.
The top gainers were TCS, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, ITC, Infosys, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra.
Among the sectoral indices, Fin Service, FMCG, Metal, Realty, Energy, and Infra were major losers.
IT, PSU Bank and Auto were major gainers.
The broader market is in a downward trend.
On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,335 shares were in red, and 814 shares were in green.
Currently, mixed trading is taking place in Asian markets, providing investors with a comprehensive view of global market conditions.
Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Seoul are green, while Jakarta and Bangkok are red. US markets closed in the red on Thursday.
According to market experts, the sharp correction of 2.1 per cent in the Nifty yesterday was more due to the massive Foreign Institutional Investors’ selling rather than fears of Middle East tensions escalating. The last three days have witnessed huge FII selling of Rs 30,614 crore in the cash market, underscoring the significant influence of FII activities on market trends.
“The market will start responding to the Q2 results which will start flowing from next week onwards. Leading banks are poised for a recovery,” they added, instilling a sense of hope and optimism among investors.
On October 3, FIIs sold equities worth Rs 15,243 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 12,914 crore on the same day.
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–IANS