India's key equity indices plummeted on Friday, after the worst one-day fall since April, tumbling nearly 2% on Thursday.
According to market experts, the surge in India's key stock indices this year, fueled by tremendous liquidity and widespread retail involvement, has raised concerns about overvaluation.
Morgan Stanley on Thursday downgraded India to 'equal-weight from 'overweight,' citing expensive valuations, and said it expects the markets to consolidate ahead of potential short-term headwinds.
On Thursday early trading, the equity indexes have extended their intra-day losses and are hovering near the day's lows, with market indexes BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were trading roughly 1% lower.
BSE Sensex was down over 800 points at 59,104, while benchmark Nifty was trading down over 200 points at 17,613, amid a weak trend in global markets and unabated foreign fund outflow.
Analysts believe relentless selling by FIIs is a key reason for this correction in the market. The Nifty sectors indices were all in the red, including the financial, midcap, and banks.
On a stock-by-stock basis, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, Axis Bank, and HDFC were among the major losers on the NSE.
"The market is likely to stay under pressure while trends in SGX Nifty indicate a soft opening of domestic benchmark indices," said SMC Global equity in a research note to its clients.
Globally, Asian shares and US stock futures slipped on Friday, as Amazon and Apple quarterly earnings bucked a recent strong trend, and growth and inflation fears continued to weigh.
The US 10-year Treasury yield dipped. The US dollar was near a one-month low, and crude oil fluctuated.