India's Benchmark Indexes Settle on Weak Note Amid Foreign Selling Pressure

Market Overview and Index Performance

India’s stock market kicked off the week on a cautious note, with both the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 struggling to maintain gains as foreign portfolio investors continued their exit from equities. The Sensex eventually settled at 84,695.54, registering a decline of 345.91 points or 0.41%, while the Nifty50 closed at 25,942.10, down 100.20 points or 0.38%. This marks the Sensex’s fourth consecutive day of losses, signaling sustained weakness in the broader market sentiment.

The trading session began with some optimism, as both indexes briefly touched intraday highs of 85,250.00 and 26,106.80 respectively. However, persistent selling pressure from overseas investors and subdued trading volumes prevented any meaningful recovery, leaving the market to settle at lower levels by day’s end.

Sector-Specific Performance

Healthcare, consumer durables, technology, and realty stocks emerged as the primary losers during the session. The automobile sector also witnessed weakness, though not uniformly across all stocks. Among major indices constituents, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone was hit hardest, sliding 2.22%. HCL Technologies and Power Grid Corporation both fell approximately 1.85%, while Trent, BEL, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, TCS, Infosys, ICICI Bank, and ITC declined between 0.5% and 1.4%.

Additional weakness was visible in Adani Enterprises, Jio Financial Services, Max Health, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, and Hindalco. However, select stocks managed to deliver positive returns. Tata Steel emerged as a standout performer with nearly 2% gains, while Asian Paints advanced about 1%. Tata Consumer Products gained 1.6%, while Grasim Industries, Nestle, Bajaj Auto, Indigo, and UltraTech Cement posted modest increases. NTPC, Axis Bank, and Hind Unilever also moved higher during the session.

Market Breadth and External Influences

The market breadth reflected the overall weakness in sentiment. On the BSE, 2,748 stocks declined while only 1,568 advanced, with 205 ending flat. This unfavorable ratio underscores the challenging environment for equity investors.

Global market dynamics painted a mixed picture, with Asian equities delivering mixed results and European markets showing clear weakness. The absence of positive economic data combined with cautious positioning by market participants further dampened the appetite for aggressive buying, leaving investors to adopt a wait-and-see approach as the market continued to digest incoming information.