Indian markets continued their losing streak for the fourth straight session as investors grew increasingly cautious. The sharp fall in the Indian rupee, which slipped past the ₹90 mark against the US dollar, triggered fresh concerns and weakened market sentiment. On Wednesday, the rupee dropped another 19 paise and ended at a lifetime low of 90.15, dragging the indices lower.
Foreign investor selling added more pressure, pulling the Nifty below the 26,000 level once again. Meanwhile, global crude prices remained firm, with Brent crude trading at $63.07 per barrel, up 0.99%.
Market Capitalization Declines Sharply
The total market capitalization of companies listed on the BSE fell by ₹2.79 lakh crore to ₹469.67 lakh crore (equivalent to $5.20 trillion).
The Sensex opened slightly higher at 85,150.64, gaining 12 points from the previous close of 85,138.27. However, it soon slipped into the red and touched an intraday low of 84,763.64. By the closing bell, it had recovered part of its losses and ended 31.46 points lower at 85,106.81.
The Nifty closed 46.20 points down at 25,986, after fluctuating between 25,891 and 26,066.45 during the session.
Sector and Stock Performance
Out of the 30 Sensex stocks, 20 declined. Major losers included:
- BEL – down 2.13%
- Titan – down 1.86%
- M&M – down 1.79%
- NTPC – down 1.72%
- SBI – down 1.69%
- TMPV – down 1.40%
- L&T – down 1.08%
Some heavyweights, however, supported the index with gains:
- TCS – up 1.41%
- ICICI Bank – up 1.37%
- Infosys – up 1.12%
- HDFC Bank – up 1.06%
- Axis Bank – up 0.91%
Sector-wise, machinery, consumer durables, auto, power, industrials, services, FMCG, and utilities indices fell up to 1.31%. In contrast, IT, tech, telecom, and banking showed resilience and ended in the green.
Corporate Announcements Making Headlines
Several major companies made key investment and expansion announcements:
- Sun Pharma Laboratories, a subsidiary of Sun Pharma, revealed plans to invest ₹3,000 crore to set up a new manufacturing plant in Madhya Pradesh.
- JFE Steel Corporation announced a ₹15,750 crore investment to form a joint venture with JSW Steel.
- Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) said its subsidiary Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) received board approval to raise funds via an IPO.
- Reliance Retail Ventures appointed Jeyandran Venugopal as its new President and CEO.
- Bank of America named Vikram Sahu as the new CEO for its India operations.
- Flipkart added Dan Neary to its Board of Directors.
IPO Updates
The IPO market remained active with multiple public issues receiving strong investor interest:
- Corona Remedies’ IPO will open on November 8 and close on November 10. The price band is ₹1008–₹1062, and the company aims to raise ₹655.37 crore at the upper end. Shares may list on November 15.
- Vidya Wires IPO received 2.89 times subscription on Day 1, against 4.33 crore shares on offer.
- Equus IPO saw even stronger demand with 3.42 times subscription on the opening day.
- Meesho IPO also attracted heavy interest, getting 2.35 times subscription on Day 1 for the 27.79 crore shares available.