Benchmark indices such as Sensex and Nifty opened lower on Wednesday, marking the first trading session of 2025. This decline comes as ongoing foreign fund outflows continue to impact investor sentiment negatively. Investors are also adopting a cautious approach ahead of the upcoming earnings season set to commence next week.
The 30-share BSE benchmark, Sensex, fell by 171.81 points to settle at 77,967.20, despite a positive start to the day’s trading. Similarly, the NSE Nifty decreased by 46.4 points, reaching 23,598.40 after a quiet opening.
Among the 30 blue-chip stocks, the following were identified as laggards:
– ICICI Bank
– UltraTech Cement
– Adani Ports
– Tata Steel
– Axis Bank
– Maruti
– Kotak Mahindra Bank
Conversely, the following stocks showed gains:
– Asian Paints
– Larsen & Toubro
– Bajaj Finance
– Infosys
– HCL Tech
– Bajaj Finserv
According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 4,645.22 crore on Tuesday.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, commented, “The New Year begins on a sombre note for the Indian equity market. The near-term trend appears weak, with the macro environment heavily influenced by sluggish GDP and earnings growth.” He further remarked on the challenges posed by a strong dollar and high US bond yields, predicting continued selling by FIIs at least in the early part of 2025. He noted, “Even as FII selling is countered by DII buying, market sentiments currently favour FIIs due to elevated valuations, while growth and earnings have yet to demonstrate recovery.”
In the US markets, a downturn was observed on Tuesday. Additionally, the global oil benchmark, Brent crude, rose by 0.88%, reaching USD 74.64 per barrel.
On Tuesday, the BSE benchmark Sensex witnessed a decline of 109.12 points, a decrease of 0.14%, closing at 78,139.01. The Nifty also experienced a slight decline, falling by 0.10 points to finish at 23,644.80. Throughout 2024, the Sensex experienced a significant increase of 5,898.75 points, or 8.16%, while the Nifty surged by 1,913.4 points, equivalent to 8.80%.
