NIFTY50 declines by 0.4%, dragged by IT stock; SENSEX slips below the 80,000 mark

The Indian equity benchmark indices opened lower on Thursday. Information Technology stocks dragged the market down as the session progressed; Larsen and Toubro’s gains helped the market indices to cap the further losses after maintaining its annual growth forecast.

By midday, the NIFTY50 index slipped below the 24,250 level, falling by 100 points from yesterday’s close. Likewise, the SENSEX also dipped into losses, tumbling below the 80,000 mark. However, after a decent start, the Nifty Bank index lost its momentum and reversed its gain to witness a decline of 70 points. The India VIX index has jumped over 3%, pushing past the 16 mark to a fresh 10-week high.

The benchmark NIFTY50 has lost about 6% in October so far, eyeing its worst monthly performance since March 2020, when COVID-19 lockdowns spurred a sharp slide across global markets. Today, investors are locking gains spotting the opportunity due to the global decline in tech stocks to book profits from domestic IT stocks. Technology shares throughout Asia fell after Meta Platforms warned of a significant increase in expenses related to artificial intelligence.

On the sectoral front, most indices were trading in red; the Nifty IT index (-3.03%) fell the most following global cues and the Nifty Consumer Durables (-1.11%). Conversely, Nifty Pharma (+1.2%) and Nifty Healthcare (+1.12%), were the major gainers. Broader markets displayed mixed performance, with the Nifty Smallcap 100 climbing by 0.22%, while Nifty Midcap 100 indices down by 0.60%. The market breadth reflected positivity in the market despite frontline indices being down: 1,618 stocks advanced, while only 964 declined.