Investors in wait and watch mode

Mumbai Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty declined on Monday due to selling pressure in IT, consumer durables and financial stocks as investors turned cautious ahead of the release of inflation data. Besides, persistent foreign fund outflows and weakness in the rupee hit investor sentiments, traders said.

Giving up Diwali day gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 325.58 points or 0.50 per cent to settle at 64,933.87. During the day, it dropped 406.09 points or 0.62 per cent to 64,853.36. The Nifty declined 82 points or 0.42 per cent to 19,443.55.

“Post-Diwali, Indian equities continued consolidation amid global uncertainty. The sharp deceleration in IIP growth, from 10.3 per cent in August to 5.8 per cent in September, and weakening manufacturing PMI reflect global trends driven by rising interest rates and inflation. The Indian rupee’s weakness keeps FIIs cautious. However, the market’s downside is limited by strong earnings, economic stability, and domestic institutional flows,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

“Markets started the week on a feeble note and lost nearly half a per cent, tracking weak global cues,” Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said. Equity markets will remain closed on Tuesday for ‘Diwali Balipratipada’.

Among the BSE indices, IT declined by 0.77 per cent, consumer durables fell by 0.75 per cent, teck (0.66 per cent), FMCG (0.39 per cent), services (0.20 per cent) and financial services (0.17 per cent). On the other hand, energy, utilities, power and auto were the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 190.06 crore on Sunday, according to exchange data.