Share Market Highlights 10 November 2023: Sensex, Nifty end marginally higher; NTPC, ONGC top performers

Indian benchmark stock indices, Sensex and Nifty, commenced trading on a lower note on Friday, aligning with the global downturn spurred by comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Powell expressed skepticism about whether interest rates were sufficiently elevated to combat inflation.

As of 9:17 a.m., the 30-share BSE Sensex was down by 221.60 points, trading at 64,610.60, while the NSE Nifty dropped 62.30 points to 19,333.

In the Nifty, gainers included Adani Enterprises, HDFC Life, Adani Ports, Coal India and ONGC, whereas Titan, NTPC, UPL, IndusInd Bank, and Dr Reddy’s were among the laggards.

On Wall Street, a decline was observed, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ending their longest winning streak in two years. Powell’s comments eroded market optimism about monetary policy.

Powell indicated that the Fed lacked confidence in its efforts to control inflation, which led to an increase in U.S. Treasury yields. This sentiment resonated in Asian markets, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index falling by over 1%.

Despite a 0.86% increase in the Nifty 50 for the week, it faced resistance around the 19,450 levels during the last two sessions. Small- and mid-cap stocks outperformed blue-chip stocks, with each registering gains of over 2.4%, driven by strong retail inflows.

In contrast to domestic investors, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to divest from Indian equities in November. On Thursday, FIIs offloaded shares worth Rs 1,712 crore, extending their selling streak to 12 sessions. Foreign outflows from domestic markets reached a nine-month high in the previous month.