Mumbai. Domestic stock markets closed with a big fall on Friday amid weak global trends, fresh withdrawal of foreign capital and rising geopolitical tensions. Sensex fell 961 points while Nifty fell 318 points. Analysts said lack of progress in US-Iran nuclear talks weighed on investor sentiment due to fears of increased tensions in West Asia.
The 30-share BSE benchmark index fell 961.42 points, or 1.17 percent, to close at 81,287.19. At one time during trading, it had fallen by 1,089.46 points or 1.32 percent to 81,159.15 points.
Similarly, NSE’s benchmark index Nifty based on 50 shares fell 317.90 points or 1.25 per cent to close at 25,178.65 points. Among Sensex constituents, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo), Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki were major losers. On the other hand, shares of HCL Tech, Trent, Infosys and Eternal closed with gains.
According to stock market data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,465.99 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 5,031.57 crore.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said, “Markets remain cautious due to weak global cues and geopolitical risks. Global uncertainties related to artificial intelligence (AI) also supported the demand for safe investment options. In the absence of fresh positive factors domestically, global macroeconomic factors are taking over.”
In other markets in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi index fell about one percent, while Japan’s Nikkei, China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were in the lead. European markets were trading in a mixed mood. US markets closed mostly with losses on Thursday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.26 percent to $71.64 per barrel. On Thursday, BSE Sensex closed at 82,248.61 points with a slight fall of 27.46 points while Nifty closed at 25,496.55 points with a slight gain of 14.05 points.
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