MUMBAI— Indian equity markets opened lower on Friday, dragged down by losses in key heavyweights such as Axis Bank and Bharti Airtel, even as midcap and smallcap stocks helped hold the broader market steady.
As of 9:25 a.m., the BSE Sensex was down 171 points, or 0.21%, at 82,087, while the NSE Nifty slipped 35 points, or 0.14%, to trade at 25,075.
Among the top gainers in the Sensex pack were M&M, Tata Steel, Power Grid, L&T, UltraTech Cement, Infosys, Tata Motors, BEL, NTPC, TCS, Trent, and Maruti Suzuki. On the losing side were Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Eternal (Zomato), HUL, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Titan, and Bajaj Finserv.
Sectorally, auto, IT, PSU banks, metals, realty, media, energy, infrastructure, public sector enterprises, and commodities posted gains. In contrast, financial services, FMCG, and private banks were in the red.
“India has underperformed most global markets so far in July, with the Nifty down by 1.6%,” said Dr. V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. “A major factor behind this decline is continued selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), which has followed a consistent pattern this year.”
He noted that FIIs were net sellers in the first three months of 2025, turned net buyers over the next three, and have resumed selling in July—unless incoming data or news reverses the trend.
On July 17, FIIs offloaded equities worth ₹3,694 crore, marking their second consecutive session of net selling. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained net buyers for the ninth straight session, purchasing stocks worth ₹2,820 crore.
Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities, noted that the Nifty has declined in five of the past seven sessions but remains technically supported above a rising trendline from the May 9 lows.
“Technically, Thursday’s bearish engulfing candle pattern was expected. We previously indicated that a close above 25,245 and then 25,340 was crucial for the bulls to regain strength,” Chinchalkar explained. “The 25,000 level now serves as key support, while 25,340 remains the major resistance.”
Asian markets opened mostly positive on Friday. Major gainers included Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Jakarta, while Tokyo and Seoul traded in the red. U.S. markets closed higher on Thursday, buoyed by improved investor sentiment. (Source: IANS)
