Stock market today: BSE Sensex And the Nifty50, the Indian equity benchmark index, fell in trade on Friday. While the BSE Sensex fell below 79,400, Nifty50 was just above 24,000. At 10:54 am, the BSE Sensex was trading down 640 points, or 0.80%, at 79,304.00. The Nifty 50 was down 181 points or 0.75 percent at 24,007.40.
Indian equity indices fell on Friday, influenced by global market trends, with majors such as Infosys, TCS, and ICICI Bank leading the decline.
Notable decliners include ITC, TCS, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Zomato, and Tech Mahindra, each down 1%. On the contrary, NTPC, SBI, Adani Ports, Nestle India, and Tata Steel showed positive movement.
Shares of DMart rose 10% after it reported a 17% year-over-year rise in standalone revenue in the quarter ended December 31, 2024. Shares of MOIL rose 6% after announcing strong performance data.
Sector-wise, the Nifty Pharma and IT indices declined over 0.5%, while the Auto, Media, Metals, PSU Banks, Realty, Consumer Durables, and Oil & Gas sectors showed gains.
The U.S. dollar rose to a two-year high after strong labor market data, suggesting a slower pace of Federal Reserve rate cuts. The Fed indicated two rate cuts in 2025, revised down from earlier estimates of four cuts.
“The uncanny ability to surprise the market was evident in yesterday’s massive 445-point rally in the Nifty. Although FII buying helped the rally, the net buying of Rs 1,506 crore was not as good as the big Nifty. 1.8% rally,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
Asian markets showed modest gains, while US shares closed lower. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index rose 0.33% but was on track for a weekly decline of about 1%.
Foreign institutional investors bought equity worth Rs 1,506 crore on January 2, while domestic institutional investors acquired shares worth Rs 22 crore.
Oil prices continued their upward trend, with Brent crude at $76.09 a barrel and WTI at $73.32 a barrel, reflecting optimism about possible government policy support.
The Indian rupee fell 3 paise to 85.78 against the US dollar, while the dollar index fell 0.19 percent to 109.18.