Equity benchmarks reversed morning gains to trade lower by midday on Friday, with the Sensex down 272.31 points or 0.32 per cent at 84,132.15 and the Nifty falling 90.45 points or 0.35 per cent to 25,787.40 as of 12:30 pm. The indices opened marginally lower, with the Sensex at 84,379.79 against its previous close of 84,404.46, while the Nifty opened at 25,863.80 compared to Thursday’s close of 25,877.85.
The downturn marks a continuation of weakness triggered by persistent foreign institutional investor selling, with FIIs offloading equities worth ₹3,077 crore on Thursday. Domestic institutional investors partially cushioned the blow with net purchases of ₹2,469 crore. Market participants remained cautious amid elevated valuations and subdued global sentiment following the US Federal Reserve’s 25-basis-point rate cut and the Xi-Trump summit, which yielded only a one-year truce in the US-China trade war.
Sectoral indices showed mixed performance, with Nifty Financial Services declining 0.57 per cent to 27,223.00 and Nifty Bank slipping 0.15 per cent to 57,937.95. The broader Nifty Midcap 100 remained largely flat, down 0.02 per cent at 60,087.60, while Nifty Next 50 edged up 0.02 per cent to 70,113.90.
Market breadth tilted negative, with 2,107 stocks declining against 1,821 advances on the BSE, where 4,123 stocks were traded. A total of 117 stocks hit 52-week highs while 52 touched 52-week lows. Upper circuit was triggered in 157 stocks and lower circuit in 136 stocks.
Among Nifty constituents, Eicher Motors led the gainers, surging 2.64 per cent to ₹7,071.00, followed by Larsen & Toubro up 1.07 per cent at ₹4,030.00, Tata Consultancy Services rising 0.86 per cent to ₹3,061.40, Maruti Suzuki advancing 0.81 per cent to ₹16,337.00, and ITC gaining 0.78 per cent to ₹422.00.
On the losing side, Eternis saw the steepest decline of 2.43 per cent to ₹321.35, followed by Max Healthcare down 2.42 per cent at ₹1,150.00, Cipla falling 2.34 per cent to ₹1,504.00, NTPC declining 2.16 per cent to ₹337.70, and IndiGo dropping 1.61 per cent to ₹5,633.00.
Analysts noted that the Nifty faces immediate resistance at 26,050-26,100 levels and support at 25,800, with momentum likely to revive only above 26,100.