Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices tumbled in early trade on Friday, falling for a fourth consecutive day, amid relentless foreign fund outflows and a sell-off in Infosys shares after second-quarter earnings failed to cheer investors.
The BSE Sensex was down 570.45 points at 80,436.16 in early trade. The NSE Nifty fell 178.3 points to 24,571.55.
Of the 30 Sensex firms, Titan, Infosys, Maruti, Nestle, ITC, Adani Ports, HDFC Bank and Hindustan Unilever were the biggest laggards.
Infosys Ltd, India’s second-largest exporter of IT services, on Thursday reported a nearly 5 percent rise in its second-quarter net profit and raised its revenue guidance for the year on the back of a broad-based recovery in demand, particularly from its key customers in the financial industry .
Among the blue chip group, Axis Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel were the gainers.
Axis Bank’s consolidated net profit for the September quarter rose 19.29 percent to Rs 7,401.26 crore, but the lender reported pain in its unsecured lending segment.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 7,421.40 crore on Thursday, according to stock exchange data.
“High valuations in India were the main driver for sustained selling by FIIs,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
In Asian markets, Seoul traded lower, while Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong traded in the green.
US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.
Global benchmark Brent crude rose 0.20% to $74.60 a barrel.
BSE’s benchmark Sensex was down 494.75 points, or 0.61%, at 81,006.61 on Thursday. It fell 595.72 points, or 0.73%, to 80,905.64 on the day.
The NSE Nifty fell 221.45 points or 0.89% to 24,749.85.
