Sensex, Nifty fall for 8th day as relentless FII selling hits market sentiments

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty extended their downward trend to the eighth day in a row on Friday (February 14, 2025) as investors' sentiments were plagued due to persistent foreign fund outflows.

Markets began the trade on an optimistic note but soon gave up initial gains and fell in the negative territory.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex dropped 199.76 points or 0.26% to settle at 75,939.21. During the day, it tanked 699.33 points or 0.91% to 75,439.64.

The NSE Nifty declined 102.15 points or 0.44% to 22,929.25.

In eight trading days, the BSE benchmark has tumbled 2,644.6 points or 3.36%, and the Nifty slumped 810 points or 3.41%.

From the 30-share blue-chip pack, Adani Ports dropped over 4%. UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, NTPC and Tata Steel were also the among the laggards.

Nestle, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Tech were among the gainers.

"The risk-averse sentiment continues to rule investors’ minds as corporate earnings are significantly lower than the market expectations during the start of the year, especially for mid and small caps.

"Muted earnings trend, INR depreciation along with external factors like tariffs are expected to keep the sentiments weak in the near term, which could further push FIIs outflows. Volatility is expected to stay elevated until there is clarity on tariffs and a recovery in corporate earnings," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

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

European markets were trading on a mixed note. U.S. markets ended higher on Thursday.

India and the U.S. have resolved to more than double the two-way trade to $500 billion by 2030 and begin talks for a bilateral trade agreement with a view to bringing down duties and increase market access.

According to a joint statement issued after the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, the two leaders have also pledged the bilateral trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation.

"To this end, the leaders set a bold new goal for bilateral trade – Mission 500 – aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. Recognizing that this level of ambition would require new, fair-trade terms, the leaders announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall of 2025," it said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹2,789.91 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude went up by 0.55% to $75.43 a barrel.

The Sensex dipped 32.11 points or 0.04% to settle at 76,138.97 on Thursday. The Nifty slipped 13.85 points or 0.06% to 23,031.40.