Foreign outflow from Indian equities continued for fifth day in a row as overseas investors remained net sellers on Wednesday.

Foreign portfolio investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,271.25 crore during the day, according to data from the National Stock Exchange.

Domestic institutional investors remained net buyers for the fifth straight day and mopped up stocks worth Rs 1,823.94 crore.

Foreign institutions have remained net sellers of Rs 21,571 crore worth of Indian stocks so far in 2023, according to the National Securities Depository Ltd.

The local currency weakened by 11 paise to close at 82.60 against the greenback. It closed at 82.49 on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg

Indian equity benchmarks witnessed a steep decline from the day's high and ended lower in trade on Wednesday. Indices were trading higher through midday.

The headline indices closed lower for the fifth straight session, ending at their lowest levels since October 2022.

S&P BSE Sensex declined the most since Oct. 13, 2022, when it closed at 57,235.33 points. Whereas, NSE Nifty 50 closed below 17,000 level for the first time since Oct. 11, 2022.

Contracts on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 fluctuated between small gains and losses. A gauge of dollar strength edged higher after four days of declines.

Europe’s Stoxx 500 equity benchmark slipped about 0.4%, with energy companies among the biggest decliners after this week’s steep drop in oil prices. Financials were among the biggest gainers in Asian trade today.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed down 344 points or 0.59% at 57,555.90 while the NSE Nifty 50 was 71 points or 0.42% lower at 16,972.15.

Reliance Industries Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., HDFC Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., and Hindustan Unilever Ltd., were negatively contributing to the index NSE Nifty 50.

Whereas, Larsen and Toubro Ltd., Asian Paints Ltd., Adani Enterprises Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., and Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd. were adding positively to the index.

All Adani Group company stocks advanced while Adani Power Ltd. and Adani Total Gas Ltd. declined in trade.

The broader market indices ended mixed; S&P BSE MidCap was down 0.02% whereas S&P BSE SmallCap was higher by 0.10%.

Ten out of the 19 sectors compiled by BSE declined, while nine advanced in trade.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the sellers. About 1,557 stocks rose, 1,963 declined, and 123 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Shares of Sonata Software Ltd. declined 2.55% to Rs 813.3 apiece in trade on Wednesday after hitting a 52 week high in trade. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading lower by 0.15%.

Sonata Software has been chosen as one of the TOP SI partners of the newly launched cloud solution developed by Bayer for the agri-food industry.

Scrip gained as much as 2.52% intraday, rising the most in 52 weeks to Rs 855.6 apiece.

Total traded volume stood at three times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 66.

Out of the six analysts tracking the company, four maintain a 'buy' rating, two recommend a 'hold' and two suggest to 'sell' the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an downside of 2.7% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd. declined 1.23% to Rs 1,545.05 apiece in trade on Wednesday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading lower by 0.12%.

Scrip gained as much as 1.30% intraday. It declined for fourth straight trading session, falling over 5% in the same period. Total traded volume stood at 2.2 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 32.06.

Out of the 44 analysts tracking the company, 41 maintain a 'buy' rating and three recommend a 'hold' on the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 25% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg