Nifty, Sensex open lower on geopolitical woes, Infosys disappoints

Stock market news: Indian equities opened Friday on a negative note, mirroring a global selloff triggered by heightened tensions in the Middle East. The IT sector faced an additional drag after Infosys' underwhelming earnings report.

As of 9:35 am, the blue-chip NSE Nifty was trading 145.25 points lower at 21,850.60 and the thirty-share S&P BSE Sensex was trading 475.97 points lower at 72,013.02.

Following media reports of Israeli missile strikes on Iranian targets, Asian markets witnessed a sharp decline, and this sentiment spilled over to Indian bourses. The broader MSCI Asia Pacific Index shed over 2 per cent, and US stock futures also pointed towards a lower opening.

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a strong rebound from intraday low levels in afternoon deals led by gains in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance Industries. The Sensex surged as much as 1,346 points from day's lowest level and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 22,178.50 after hitting an intraday low of 21,777.65.

"Inflationary pressures due to elevated crude oil prices and geopolitical tensions have dampened investor sentiment," said Sonam Srivastava, founder and fund manager at Wright Research.

India's benchmark indexes have lost about 3 per cent so far this week and are set for their worst week since June 2022.

"Any escalation of tensions in Middle East or a series of disappointing earnings reports could trigger further correction," Srivastava added.

Twelve of the 13 major sectors declined on the day. The broader, more domestically-focused small and mid-caps lost about 1 per cent each.

Apollo Hospitals rose 1.2 per cent after HSBC reiterated "buy", citing strong growth visibility in its core hospital segment and 24/7 digital platform.

Infosys earnings disappoint, IT stocks slide
 

Adding to the market woes, Infosys, a leading IT services company, missed analyst expectations with its March quarter revenue and provided a lower-than-anticipated annual revenue forecast. This news sent the Nifty IT index down 1.2 per cent, with Infosys stock itself dropping 2 per cent.

This marks the fourth consecutive day of decline for Indian markets, extending their longest losing streak in the past six months. The Nifty 50 and Sensex have shed around 3.3 per cent each during this period.

Foreign investors continue to offload Indian stocks, with a net outflow of Rs 4,260 crore on Thursday. Domestic institutional investors have been net buyers for the past seven trading sessions.

Market volatility remains elevated, with the NIFTY VIX reaching a one-month high on Thursday. Analysts expect volatility to persist in the lead-up to the national elections beginning today.