Sensex, Nifty Slip as Realty and Energy Stocks Decline; IT Sector Shows Gains

India’s main indices, Sensex and Nifty, continued to trade lower on Friday, marking two consecutive days of declines.

This downtrend persisted despite favorable global cues, including a second interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

As of midday, the Sensex dropped by 209 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 79,332.73, while the Nifty fell by 81 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 24,118.00. Market breadth showed weakness, with 1,138 stocks advancing, 2,136 declining, and 79 remaining flat.

Mid- and small-cap indices underperformed, slipping nearly 1 per cent each, although they’ve delivered robust gains of 25 per cent so far this year, outpacing the Nifty’s 13 per cent rise.

The volatility index, VIX, dipped slightly, falling over 1 per cent to hover just below the 15 mark, offering brief respite from recent market swings.

IT stocks provided some positive momentum, with Nifty IT rising over 1 per cent. Shares of Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, and Coforge posted gains, though TCS saw minor losses despite its leadership position in the IT services space.

Meanwhile, sectors like energy, real estate, banking, and pharmaceuticals fell up to 1.5 per cent. Key stocks, including SBI, Tata Motors, Vedanta, LIC, and Ashok Leyland, were actively traded as these companies announced quarterly results.

Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) saw a notable rise of over 4 per cent in share price following its Q2FY25 earnings report, which recorded a 232 per cent year-on-year surge in net profit to Rs 554.6 crore.

Valuation Concerns Keep FIIs Cautious Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have continued to sell Indian equities, citing high valuations and slower earnings growth as reasons.

FIIs sold over Rs 16,000 crore in Indian stocks so far in November, adding to October’s sell-off of over Rs 1 lakh crore.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have been buying into the market, but their efforts have not offset the downward pressure.

According to Money Control, V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, pointed out that “the combination of high valuations and slower earnings growth” is driving FII outflows, though he suggested improved Q3 earnings could slow FII selling or potentially attract new inflows.

Derivative analyst Hardik Matalia projected Nifty support at 24,100 and noted resistance levels at 24,300. Individual Stock Movements Renewable energy firm Waaree Energies saw its stock drop by 10 per cent over two sessions due to concerns about reduced U.S. demand.

Meanwhile, Emcure Pharmaceuticals surged nearly 6 per cent as investors reacted positively to its Q2 performance, with a 38 per cent rise in net profit year-over-year, reaching Rs 202 crore on a 20 per cent increase in revenue.

Top Performers and Laggards Leading gainers in the Nifty were Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and Wipro.

On the losing end, Coal India, Trent, and BPCL weighed on the index.

Sensex laggards included Asian Paints, Tata Motors, and ICICI Bank.