Indian Stock Market Today: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty began the trade on a positive note on Monday but soon turned negative amid heavy selling in bellwether stocks Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank as well as persistent outflow of foreign funds.
The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 451.62 points to 73,649.72 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 136.85 points to 22,261.55.
However, soon both the benchmark indices turned negative and were trading lower. The BSE benchmark quoted 249.53 points lower at 72,948.57, and the Nifty traded 61.50 points down at 22,063.20.
From the Sensex pack, Induslnd Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, Tata Motors, Zomato, Bajaj Finance and Hindustan Unilever were among the biggest laggards.
UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies, Infosys and Bharti Airtel were the gainers.
In Asian markets, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai were trading higher. Seoul stock market was closed due to a holiday.
US markets ended largely positive on Friday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 11,639.02 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
“The main triggers for the sustained FII selling in India have been the high valuations and the attractive US bond yields. These important macros are undergoing a slow shift,” V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said. Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude went up 0.55 per cent to USD 73.21 a barrel.
On Friday, the BSE benchmark Sensex tanked 1,414.33 points or 1.90 per cent to settle at 73,198.10. Extending losses to the eighth straight day, the NSE Nifty slumped 420.35 points or 1.86 per cent to close at 22,124.70.
The rupee appreciated 9 paise to 87.28 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday as the American currency index retreated from elevated level and domestic equity markets indicated some recovery after firm macroeconomic data.
According to forex traders, withdrawal of foreign capital is expected to halt as the latest government data released on Friday showed the country’s economy grew by 6.2 per cent in the October-December quarter, recovering sequentially from seven-quarter lows.
However, the volatility triggered by the US tariff continued to linger, leading to an increase in crude oil prices and capping a sharp gain in the domestic currency, they said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 87.36 and gained further ground to 87.28 against the American currency, registering a gain of 9 paise from its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee fell 19 paise to settle at 87.37 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.34 per cent lower at 107.19.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.59 per cent to USD 73.24 per barrel in futures trade.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 167.25 points or 0.23 per cent higher at 73,365.35 in morning trade, while Nifty was up 69.65 points or 0.31 per cent to 22,194.35.
The Reserve Bank on Friday conducted US dollar-rupee swap worth USD 10 billion for injecting long-term liquidity in the system, with the auction eliciting robust demand. The settlement of auction will take place on March 4 and March 6.
Under the swap exercise, a bank shall sell US dollars to the Reserve Bank and simultaneously agree to buy the same amount of US dollars at the end of the swap period.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 11,639.02 crore in the capital markets on net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
The latest Reserve Bank data released on Friday showed the country’s forex reserve jumped by USD 4.758 billion to USD 640.479 billion in the week ended February 21.
In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped by USD 2.54 billion to USD 635.721 billion.
Also, the official data released on Saturday showed gross GST collections rose by 9.1 per cent to about Rs 1.84 lakh crore in February, boosted by domestic consumption and indicating potential economic revival.
However, the government’s fiscal deficit touched 74.5 per cent of the annual target at the end of January 2025, according to the data released by Controller General of Accounts (CGA). The deficit was 63.6 per cent of Revised Estimates (RE) of 2023-24 in the year-ago period.
