Stock Markets Slip in Early Trade Amid Profit-Taking, FII Outflows

Mumbai: After a week-long rally, Indian stock markets opened lower on Friday due to profit-booking and renewed foreign fund withdrawals. The BSE Sensex declined 153 points to 84,403.22, while the NSE Nifty slipped 51 points to 25,840.30 in early trade.Among Sensex constituents, Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Power Grid, Adani Ports, and Eternal were among the top laggards. On the other hand, Bharat Electronics, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Tata Steel saw gains.Asian markets traded mostly higher, with Japan’s Nikkei 225, South Korea’s Kospi, Shanghai’s SSE Composite, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng all showing positive trends. US markets had also ended higher on Thursday.

As per exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹1,165.94 crore on Thursday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers, purchasing stocks worth ₹3,893.73 crore.Meanwhile, Brent crude slipped 0.47% to $65.68 per barrel in global markets.On Thursday, both indices had touched their 52-week highs, with Sensex closing at 84,556.40 (up 130 points) and Nifty at 25,891.40 (up 22.80 points).