The week ended on a poor note for the investing community as the benchmark Sensex on Friday slumped almost 678 points and the Nifty ended below the 17700-mark.
While the Sensex closed 677.77 points or 1.13 per cent lower at 59306.93, the broader Nifty settled 185.60 points, marking a fall of 1.04 per cent to 17671.65.
According to Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities, this is the biggest weekly loss for the Nifty in 8 months. During this week, the index has plummeted 2.45 per cent.
Stock prices have come under pressure in recent times as corporate earnings have not been able to keep pace with the high expectations.
Even as there were concerns of pricey valuations, other factors such as firm commodity prices have affected India Inc’s margins, while a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases overseas has exerted pressure on stocks.
Foreign portfolio investors have continued to press sales. Provisional data showed they sold stocks worth Rs 5,143 crore on Friday. So far, in this month, the overseas investors have been net sellers to the tune of Rs 13,550 crore.
“FIIs have turned big sellers in equity markets in October. Foreign brokerages like Merril Lynch, UBS and Nomura have downgraded India due to excessive valuations. This might have prompted them to sell on a sustained basis’,’ V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.
He said three IPOs were expected to raise Rs 30,000 crore from the market.