Stock market today: BSE Sensex opens over 350 points down; Nifty50 below 24,650

Stock market today: Indian equity benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and Nifty50, opened in red on Friday. While BSE Sensex went below 80,700 level, Nifty50 was below 24,650. At 9:16 AM, BSE Sensex was trading at 80,638.17, down 368 points or 0.45%. Nifty50 was at 24,636.55, down 113 points or 0.46%.
The market sentiment was negatively impacted by the release of rising CPI inflation data this week and the persistent selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).
Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal, said, “This along with disappointing Q2 earnings from major companies added to the pressure. Looking forward, the market is expected to remain range-bound due to mixed global cues and a lack of domestic triggers.”
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced to its fourth record close in the last five sessions, supported by stronger-than-expected monthly retail sales and TSMC’s upbeat forecast, which boosted chipmakers’ stocks. The Dow gained 0.37%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down 0.02% and up 0.04%, respectively.
Asian shares were mixed, with gains in Japan aided by a weaker yen, while equities in Australia and South Korea declined. US futures were flat after the S&P 500 retreated from an intraday record on Thursday. Crude oil futures inched higher, supported by a surprise drop in US oil inventories and simmering Middle East tensions, but prices were headed for their biggest weekly loss in more than a month due to concerns over lower demand.
The dollar is on track for a third consecutive weekly gain, benefiting from a dovish European Central Bank and strong US data that is pushing out expectations for how quickly US rates can fall, especially if Donald Trump wins the presidency.
Several stocks are in the F&O ban period today, including Chambal Fertilisers, SAIL, Hindustan Copper, RBL Bank, Granules, Manappuram, PNB, GNFC, IDFC First Bank, Tata Chemicals, IEX, Nalco, LTF, and Bandhan Bank. These securities have crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.
FIIs turned net sellers, offloading shares worth Rs 7,421 crore on Thursday, while DIIs bought shares worth Rs 4,980 crore.
The net short position of FIIs increased from Rs 1.68 lakh crore on Wednesday to Rs 1.69 lakh crore on Thursday.