Indian shares dropped more than 1% on Friday and were head for their worst week since late-November. Weighed down by technology and banking stocks, while investors awaited results from a slew of companies including heavyweight Reliance Industries. The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index(NSEI) was down 0.64% at 17,642.5 by 0441 GMT. While the S&P BSE Sensex (BSESN) dropped 0.65% to 59,077.71, after falling as much as 1.3% each. Earlier in the session to their lowest levels since early-January.
Indian shares indexes are on track for weekly losses of more than 3% each. They are still up around 7% from December’s lows after a sharp rally at the start of the year. Asian peers and U.S. futures were weaker on Friday after an overnight beating on Wall Street. As concerns over the Federal Reserve’s policy tightening lingered.
“Foreign fund outflows have been huge as pressures of interest rate hikes have unsettled investors,” said AK Prabhakar. Head of research at IDBI Capital in Mumbai. Foreign investors have sold $814 million worth of Indian equities so far this week. Compared with $3 million worth of net buying in the same period last week, according to Refinitie data.
The results season has been mix so far which has caused sharp movements in stocks, Prabhakar said. Adding the correction from recent peaks was due to stablise by the end of January. The Nifty IT index (NIFTYIT) trimmed some losses after an early 2% plunge as IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.NS)turned positive. The index was still set for its worst week since October as Infosys slid 2.5%.
The Nifty Bank index (NSEBANK) dropped 1.7%. Meanwhile, shares of Hindustan Unilever (HLL.NS)rose over 2% after the consumer goods giant logged a rise in quarterly profit and margins beat analyst estimates. Shoppers Stop (SHOP.NS)jumped 17.6% to its highest since July 2019 after the department store chain swung to a profit in the third quarter. Reliance Industries ,JSW Steel(JSTL.NS), HDFC Life Insurance and SBI Life Insurance slipped ahead of their earnings reports.