Markets give up early gains; trade lower

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices rebounded in early trade on Friday after a three-day decline but later gave up initial gains to quote in the negative territory.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 187.71 points to 66,417.95 in early trade. The Nifty advanced 49.8 points to 19,792.15.

But, later both the benchmark indices pared early gains and were trading lower. The Sensex quoted 123.33 points lower at 66,106.91 and the Nifty traded 71.25 points down at 19,671.10.

Among the Sensex firms, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Maruti and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major gainers.

Wipro, Power Grid, Titan and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Tokyo were trading in the negative territory while Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted in the green.

The US markets ended in the negative territory on Thursday.

"FIIs have reversed their 'Buy India strategy' which they have been following in the last 3 months with selling to the tune of Rs 16,934 crore in September," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Countering this negative trend is the hugely positive news of JP Morgan including India in the emerging market bond index with a weightage of 10 percent from June 2024 onwards, Vijayakumar said.

"This will reduce bond yields and the consequent decline in the cost of borrowing will boost the bottom line of companies," he added.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.53 percent to USD 93.79 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,007.36 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

"India's inclusion in JP Morgan emerging markets bond index is great news which would give a booster access to global investors to participate in the world's fastest-growing large economy," Rakeshh Mehta, Chairman, Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

The BSE benchmark fell 570.60 points or 0.85 percent to settle at 66,230.24 on Thursday. The Nifty declined 159.05 points or 0.80 percent to end at 19,742.35.

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