First Trade: Sensex slides 400+ points; Nifty slips below 24,150; Lupin, Emami in focus

Indian stock markets fell sharply on Thursday, wiping out gains from the previous session after Donald Trump’s unexpected victory in the U.S. presidential election. The BSE Sensex declined by 1.04 percent, losing 836 points to close at 79,541.79, while the NSE Nifty fell 1.16 per cent, ending at 24,199.35.

Analysts attribute the drop to profit-taking and concerns over continued foreign capital outflows, compounded by weak corporate earnings. The sell-off was led by heavyweights like Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, and ICICI Bank.

Morning session sees sharp drop, slight recovery
In early trading on Friday, the Sensex dropped by 424 points to 79,117.37, while the Nifty fell by 132 points to 24,066.65. However, buying interest returned, lifting the Sensex up by 88 points to 79,629.58 and the Nifty up by 15 points to 24,214.40 at 9:52 AM.

Rupee flat, FII selling continues
The rupee opened flat at 84.37 against the dollar, unchanged from Thursday’s close. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,889 crore on Thursday, continuing their selling streak, as per exchange data.

Mixed global cues
While Asian markets showed a mixed trend, with gains in Seoul and Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong traded lower. Wall Street ended mostly higher on Thursday following the Fed’s decision to cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.50-4.75 per cent, signalling optimism over inflation control.

Key takeaways:
- Profit-booking and FII selling weighed on the market.
- Weak earnings and uncertainty in foreign inflows added to the negative sentiment.
- The Fed’s rate cut offered little support amid domestic inflation worries.

Oil prices also eased, with Brent crude down 0.71 per cent to USD 75.09 per barrel. Market participants now await clarity on domestic economic data and the RBI’s upcoming policy announcement for further cues.