Markets End at Two-Month Low as Foreign Investors Continue to Sell

The Sensex tracked the muted trend seen in other Asian markets 

(Photo Courtesy: Reuters)

The Indian equity benchmarks ended lower after a one-day breather, on Friday, 26 July, as foreign investors continued to sell on Monday.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 0.52 percent lower at 37,686.37 and the NSE Nifty 50 ended at 11,189.20, down 0.84 percent. The broader market represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index ended 0.91 percent lower.

Markets are getting "severely punished" due to continued selling from foreign portfolio investors, said Parthiv Shah, director, TRACOM Stock Brokers, in an interview to BloombergQuint. "It is no longer a polarised market as stronger stocks are falling too. This is because most of these stocks are over-owned by foreign investors."

Foreign institutional investors have sold Rs 14,383 crore-worth equities so far this month, according to National Securities Depository Limited data.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of sellers. About 504 stocks advanced and 1,274 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Ten out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE ended lower, led by the NSE Nifty Media Index’s 3.28 percent fall. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty IT Index was the only sectoral loser, up 0.34 percent.