Indian equity markets traded on a flat note on Thursday, with both SENSEX and NIFTY50 remaining range-bound during the session. According to reports from Upstox Securities, the market sentiment remained subdued as investors awaited key corporate earnings announcements and broader market cues. However, SENSEX ended 1.24% higher at 74,151.04 points and NIFTY50 closed up 237.90 points, or 1.05%, at 22,936.75 points in the previous session. On Friday, SENSEX opened 80.62 points higher at 74,231.66 points and NIFTY rose 22.95 points to 22,959.70 points.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹943.60 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth ₹1,924 crore, as reported by Upstox Securities. This institutional activity reflected mixed sentiment among different investor categories, with domestic institutions providing support to the market despite foreign selling pressure. The crude oil headwind is getting stronger with Brent rising above $117, as noted by V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, who added that FII selling has turned weak with occasional buys in recent days.
Trent shares surged over 6% following the Tata Group retailer's strong Q3 earnings performance, with the company reporting a 22.5% year-on-year rise in revenue to ₹5,788 crore in Q2FY27 from ₹4,724 crore a year earlier. Net profit grew 8.6% to ₹490 crore from ₹451 crore, while Q2 EBITDA increased 29.6% to ₹1,054 crore from ₹813 crore. InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo's parent) reported a narrower net loss of ₹1,879 crore compared to ₹2,581.7 crore last year, with revenue rising 25.9% to ₹23,364 crore. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose nearly 2% and was among the top gainers, while Coal India declined 1.8% and Bharat Electronics fell 1.6%.
The mixed institutional flows and selective stock movements indicated cautious market sentiment among investors. As reported by Upstox Securities, the flat trading performance of benchmark indices reflected investor uncertainty ahead of key corporate results and broader market developments. V K Vijayakumar noted that an interesting trend is the rally in the small-cap segment after the brutal selloff, with sustained capital flows into mid-and small-cap funds facilitating accumulation of growth stocks. However, he cautioned that value buying opportunities are in large-caps which are temporarily out of favour due to FII selling, with the impressive 3.4% US Q3 GDP numbers and high PCE inflation at 3.6% meaning US bond yields will remain elevated.
