Stock Markets Decline: Foreign Fund Outflows Impact

Mumbai, Nov 25 (PTI) Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined on Tuesday morning as foreign fund outflows dampened investors' sentiment.

In a highly volatile trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 124.95 points to 84,775.76 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 35.35 points to 25,924.15.

From the Sensex firms, Power Grid, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Trent and Bharti Airtel were among the major laggards.

However, Reliance Industries, Bharat Electronics, Tata Steel and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,171.75 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), however, bought stocks worth Rs 4,512.87 crore in the previous trade.

"Nifty's attempt to break the 2024 September high and set new record is facing resistance particularly from resumption of big FII selling which touched Rs 4,171 crore in the cash market yesterday," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were trading in positive territory.

US markets ended significantly higher on Monday.

"Nifty closed below 26,000 on Monday as selling pressure persisted, raising doubts over whether the recent rally is fading and whether the index can recover after two sharp sessions. Sentiment is dampened by Rs 18,013 crore of FII outflows in November and uncertainty around the India–US trade deal...," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dipped 0.38 per cent to USD 63.13 per barrel.

On Monday, the Sensex declined by 331.21 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 84,900.71. The Nifty fell by 108.65 points or 0.42 per cent to 25,959.50.