Market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower for the fourth straight day on Thursday as relentless foreign fund outflows, high bond yields and a fresh spike in crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment.
The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 570.59 points, or 0.79 per cent, to settle at 71,909.70. During the day, it tanked 1,187.41 points, or 1.63 per cent, to 71,292.88.
The 50-share NSE Nifty tumbled 198.50 points, or 0.88 per cent, to end at 22,421.95.
From the 30 Sensex firms, Maruti, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, ITC, Power Grid, Hindustan Unilever and Eternal were the major laggards.
Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Tech and HDFC Bank were among the winners.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 10,148.41 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 2.77 per cent to USD 100.8 per barrel.
“The market sell-off has been driven largely by external factors, with bond yields reaching multi-year highs and crude oil prices remaining elevated, raising concerns about the economic outlook for 2026–27,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s KOSPI and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index ended sharply higher.
Markets in Europe were trading lower.
US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday.
“A renewed rise in the US 10-year Treasury yield towards 5.34 per cent strengthened the relative appeal of dollar assets and raised the valuation hurdle for emerging-market equities.
“With foreign investors having sold more than Rs 10,000 crore in the previous session, elevated US Treasury yields could sustain foreign selling pressure and weigh further on Indian equities,” Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth, a Research Analyst firm, said.
On Wednesday, the Sensex declined 48.78 points, or 0.07 per cent, to settle at 72,480.29. The Nifty dropped 95.75 points, or 0.42 per cent, to end at 22,620.45.
-PTI
