Sensex, Nifty50 close in the red after a choppy trading session: Oil & gas, bank stocks drag

• Sensex and Nifty50 closed in the red on Thursday after a choppy trading session, dragged by oil & gas, and bank stocks.
• Investor sentiment remained cautious with the earnings season now underway, alongside a heavy selloff by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).
• The year started on a tough note as FIIs offloaded equities worth ₹13,334 crore in the first eight trading sessions of 2023.

Sensex and Nifty50 closed in the red on Thursday after a choppy trading session, dragged by oil & gas, and bank stocks, among others.

While the 30-stock Sensex closed 147 points or 0.25% lower at 59,958, the 50-stock Nifty50 declined 32 points or 0.18% at 17,863 on Thursday, recovering smartly from the day’s low of 59,963 and 17,761 points, respectively.

IT stocks remained in focus on Thursday as IT majors Infosys and HCL Technologies will release their Q3 FY23 results.

Investor sentiment remained cautious with the earnings season now underway, alongside a heavy selloff by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). FIIs have offloaded equities worth over ₹13,334 crore in the first eight trading sessions of 2023.

The Indian rupee closed at 81.55 against the US dollar, appreciating 13 paise on Thursday. On the other hand, crude oil prices stabilised after experiencing volatility throughout the week. Brent crude oil prices edged up 0.96% to $83.46 per barrel.

“The domestic market continued to remain volatile as investors eagerly awaited the earnings of other IT majors after a cautious warning from TCS. FIIs continue to dump Indian equities in search of cheaper investment avenues. Uncertainties over upcoming inflation numbers at home and the US kept the domestic market unstable, even as western peers stayed optimistic,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

The oil & gas sector was the top loser on Thursday, falling 1.02%, followed by bank and FMCG, which declined 0.36% each. On the other hand, the media index emerged as the top sectoral winner, gaining 0.8%, followed by IT (0.43%) and auto (0.13%).
On Thursday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold ₹1,662 worth of equities while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought ₹2,127 crore.

Earlier on Wednesday, indices closed flat after a choppy session on Wednesday led by strong FII outflows. On Wednesday, FIIs offloaded stocks worth ₹3,208 crore while domestic institutional investors or DIIs bought ₹2,430 crore.

The year started on a tough note as FIIs offloaded equities worth ₹13,334 crore in the first eight trading sessions of 2023.

Global markets signal mixed cues
US markets ended higher with the tech-heavy Nasdaq gaining the most with 1.76%, the benchmark S&P 500 index, closing 1.28% higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.8%.

“US and majorly European markets closed on the higher side yesterday. Investors anticipate the release of the US Consumer Price Index report on Thursday,” said Mehra.

Investors await US CPI data for the month of December that is to be released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics today.

“US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with Nasdaq Composite logging its longest win streak since September, as the market built on a positive start to 2023. Traders also looked ahead to Thursday’s inflation report to help gauge the size of the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate hike in February,” said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities.

Most Asian markets were trading lower with Hang Seng down 0.70%, Shanghai Composite down 0.23%, Taiwan Weighted index was down 0.01% while Nikkei 225 up 0.03%.

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