Stock markets settle lower in lacklustre trade amid sharp fall in HUL, FPI outflows

Stock markets closed marginally lower on Thursday, taking their downtrend to the fourth day running as unabated foreign fund outflows and disappointing earnings from Hindustan Unilever dented investor sentiment.

In an uninspiring trade, the BSE Sensex dipped 16.82 points or 0.02% to settle at 80,065.16. During the day, the benchmark hit a high of 80,259.82 and a low of 79,813.02, gyrating 446.8 points.

The NSE Nifty skidded 36.10 points or 0.15% to 24,399.40 in a volatile trade.

From the 30 Sensex pack, Hindustan Unilever fell by nearly 6% after the FMCG major reported a 2.33% decline in consolidated net profit at ₹2,595 crore for the second quarter ended in September 2024 impacted by moderation in demand from the urban market.

Nestle, ITC, Maruti, Asian Paints, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen & Toubro and HCL Technologies were the other big laggards.

UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, Adani Ports, State Bank of India and Power Grid were among the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹5,684.63 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹6,039.90 crore.

"The major headwind the market is facing now is the massive, unprecedented and sustained FII selling which has touched ₹93,088 crore through 23rd October, as per NSDL data. The fundamental trigger for the FII outflows is the elevated valuations in India and the relatively cheap and attractive valuations in markets like China and Hong Kong.

"Uptrend in the market is not compatible with downtrend in earnings growth and, therefore, the market is witnessing selling at every rise, turning the near-term market structure into 'sell on rally'," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower while Tokyo ended higher.

European markets were trading in positive territory. The US markets ended in negative territory on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.99% to USD 76.45 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark declined 138.74 points or 0.17% to settle at 80,081.98 on Wednesday. The Nifty went lower by 36.60 points or 0.15% to 24,435.50.