Stocks in India finished the trading day in negative territory on Thursday as sector-specific declines outweighed gains in several banking names.
Market close - At the close on the National Stock Exchange, the Nifty 50 slipped 0.17% to register a fresh one-month low. On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex 30 fell 0.55%.
Top performers on the Nifty 50
- IndusInd Bank Ltd. (NSE:INBK) was the session's best performer on the Nifty 50, rising 2.17% or 21.20 points to finish at 999.20.
- Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (NSE:APSE) gained 1.57% or 26.30 points to close at 1,699.00.
- Axis Bank Ltd (NSE:AXBK) added 1.32% or 16.60 points to end the session at 1,270.50.
Laggers on the Nifty 50
- Tech Mahindra Ltd (NSE:TEML) declined 1.65% or 26.80 points to close at 1,596.20.
- Cipla Ltd. (NSE:CIPL) fell 1.62% or 22.90 points to end at 1,389.90.
- HCL Technologies Ltd (NSE:HCLT) was down 1.37% or 18.20 points to 1,313.30 at the close.
BSE Sensex movers
- IndusInd Bank Ltd. (BO:INBK) led gains on the Sensex, rising 2.45% to 1,001.00.
- Axis Bank Ltd. (BO:AXBK) advanced 0.89% to settle at 1,266.15.
- Adani Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd (BO:APSE) added 0.82% to close at 1,686.60.
The weakest performers on the Sensex were concentrated in consumer and industrial names: Titan Company Ltd (BO:TITN) dipped 2.17% to 4,960.00, ITC Ltd (BO:ITC) lost 1.63% to finish at 262.15 and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (BO:MAHM) fell 1.62% to 3,140.00.
Market breadth and volatility - On the National Stock Exchange, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by 1,600 to 997, with 48 stocks unchanged. On the Bombay Stock Exchange, 2,368 stocks rose while 1,678 declined and 179 were unchanged. The India VIX, which tracks implied volatility for Nifty 50 options, eased 2.20% to 11.34.
Commodities and currencies - Precious metals and energy futures moved higher in the session. Gold futures for December delivery were up 1.21% or 53.46 to $4,468.06 a troy ounce. In oil markets, crude for October delivery rose 1.78% or 1.62 to $92.63 a barrel, while the November Brent contract gained 1.55% or 1.48 to trade at $97.11 a barrel.
In currency trading, the rupee strengthened versus major peers: USD/INR was down 0.49% at 94.51 and EUR/INR fell 0.41% to 109.61. The US Dollar Index futures was down 0.35% at 99.20.
Closing perspective - The trading day ended with a modest decline in headline indices, driven by weakness in IT, FMCG and healthcare stocks even as select private banks recorded notable gains. Volatility, as measured by India VIX, fell, while commodities and FX showed mixed moves. Market participants' attention will likely remain on sector-level performance given the divergence between financials and other groups.