Sensex, Nifty Open on a Choppy Note Amid Sustained FII Outflow

Indian equity benchmark Sensex opened on a choppy note on Friday and traded 46.89 points or 0.09 per cent lower at 52,271.71, amid sustained foreign fund outflow and a mixed trend in Asian peers. Nifty inched  9.90 points or 0.06 per cent down to 15,670.10.

TCS was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 1 per cent, followed by Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, PowerGrid, Tata Steel, and HDFC.

On the other hand, ICICI Bank, M&M, Reliance Industries, and Titan were among the gainers.

The 30-share index Sensex ended 164.11 points or 0.31 per cent lower at 52,318.60, and Nifty inched 41.50 points or 0.26 per cent down to 15,680, on Thursday. 

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 1,245.29 crore on Thursday, as per provisional exchange data.

According to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, sustained FII selling and high valuations are the major reasons for the weakness in the market now.

"It is normal and rational for FIIs to sell and book profits at the present elevated valuations. High-net-worth individuals (HNIs) also might be tempted to partially book profits," he noted.

 India logged 46,617 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 3,04,58,251. The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 4,00,312 with 853 daily fatalities, and the national recovery rate has crossed 97 per cent. 

Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong were in the red in mid-session deals, while Seoul and Tokyo were trading with gains.

Equities on Wall Street largely ended on a positive note in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was quoting flat at $75.84 per barrel.