Nifty closes below 23,900 for fourth week amid oil and yield pressures
Indian equity markets declined for the fourth straight week as crude oil prices and rising bond yields weighed on sentiment. The Nifty finished near 23,898 after erasing most intraday gains.
India's benchmark stock index, the Nifty, closed at 23,897.7 points, a figure that marks the fourth consecutive week of negative performance. The index finished down 1.15% for the session, with the Sensex trailing behind at a decline of 1%. Elevated global crude oil prices and increased US 10-year bond yields continued to suppress market sentiment throughout the week. Analysts from ICICI Direct noted that the Nifty has remained range-bound between 23,600 and 24,400 for several weeks, heavily influenced by the underperformance of major stocks. Technical analyst Pankaj Pandey suggested that while a turning point might be emerging due to inflows from Foreign Currency Non-Resident Bank accounts, foreign portfolio investors remained net sellers worth 3,112 crore. In contrast, domestic institutional investors acted as buyers totaling 8,930 crore. Sudeep Shah of SBI Securities stated there is little evidence of a sustained recovery, noting the index trades below key moving averages after breaking down its rising channel. Conversely, the Nifty Volatility Index fell 4.9% to 10.78, indicating a reduction in market fear levels despite the bearish technical pattern described by Bhavya Shah at Stoxbox.
