The stock market continued to bleed on Monday amid aggressive selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), with the benchmark indices falling over 1% in line with its Asian peers.
Dragged down by information technology (IT), telecom and metal shares, the Sensex ended below the 75,000-mark for the first time in eight months at 74,454.41, falling 856.65 points or 1.14% – marking a drop for the fifth consecutive session. The Nifty also slumped 242.55 points or 1.06% to close at 22,553.35.
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In the past five trading sessions, the Sensex recorded a fall of 2.03%, while the Nifty declined by 1.77%. Both the indices are now down nearly 14% from their peak levels in late September.
On Friday, the US markets had declined up to 2.2% over concerns about weaker-than-expected economic data.
“The market is more concerned about the US’ likely move to reciprocate higher tariff levies on exporting nations, which could impact developing countries, including India,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior V-P (research) at Mehta Equities.
FPIs continued their selling spree, showing no signs of halting their India exit strategy, which is weighing heavily on the markets. Expensive valuations are also driving investors to curb their equity bets here, Tapse added.
FPIs have sold shares worth Rs 33,426 crore ($3.8 billion) in February alone, including Monday’s Rs 6,287 crore ($725 million). On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have provided the much-needed support, purchasing shares worth Rs 47,787 crore during the same period, including Rs 5,186 crore on Monday.
Since October 2024, FPIs have offloaded Rs 2.05 lakh crore ($23.9 billion) worth of Indian equities. During the same period, DIIs have injected Rs 3.2 lakh crore, driven by strong flows from retail investors.
“After consolidating over the last few trading sessions, the Nifty resumed its downward trajectory, breaking below the key support level of 22,800,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head of research, wealth management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
He added that the investor sentiment is dampened amid weak global cues and the market is expected to be subdued over the next few days.
On Monday, the IT index was the worst performer, falling 2.71%.
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