Benchmark indices ended lower for the third consecutive session on Friday with BSE Sensex closing down 677.77 points while Nifty 50 dipped 185.60 points.

On a weekly basis, the Sensex tumbled 1,514.69 points or 2.49 per cent and the Nifty lost 443.25 points or 2.44 per cent. This is the biggest weekly decline in eight months.

Sell over ₹21,000 crore

Sustained FII selling and rich valuations have impacted market sentiments. Foreign brokerages, most recently Morgan Stanley, apart from Nomura and UBS have downgraded India on excessive valuations. Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth ₹5142.63 crore on Friday. For the eighth consecutive day, FPIs remained net sellers. They offloaded shares worth ₹21,216.84 crore since October 20.

Decliners outnumber

The market breadth continued to remain in favour of the decliners with 1,819 stocks declining on the BSE, 1,427 advancing and 153 remaining unchanged. Furthermore, 243 stocks hit the lower circuit as compared to the 239 stocks that were locked in the upper circuit. Besides, 153 stocks touched a 52-week high level and 43 touched a 52-week low.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, “The domestic market continued to witness selling as energy and private bank stocks remained under pressure following dull global sentiments.”

“European markets opened weak even as the ECB decided to keep policy rates unchanged despite the inflationary pressure. US futures are trading in red following slow GDP growth and disappointing earnings from tech giants. Decisions of the Fed in its meeting next week will be a major factor that will drive global equities in the coming days,” added Nair.

Joseph Thomas, Head of Research, Emkay Wealth Management, said, “The equity markets trended lower for the week owing to selling pressure from FIIs. The FIIs have been net sellers to the tune of more than ₹20K crore for the month of October.”

“The valuation risks have been one the main concerns for foreign investors, triggered by the downgrading of Indian equity markets from “overweight” to “neutral” by key global brokerages. The valuation risks are specifically coming to the fore now as few sections of the markets expect growth momentum to slow in the wake of sticky inflation,” added Thomas.

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