Wall St selloff spoils Dalal St mood, FPIs help pare losses

MUMBAI: The overnight selloff in the US markets took its toll on investor sentiment on Dalal Street on Wednesday as the sensex and Nifty opened significantly lower. Buying support at lower levels, however, helped them close just about 0.3% off. With the US markets showing recovery on Wednesday night, the domestic markets too could move upward on Thursday, market players said.

After sharp selloffs that saw the Nasdaq composite index close over 3% lower on Wednesday, the sensex opened 710 points lower, dipped a bit more and then started to recover. It finally settled at 82,353 – down 203 points on the day. On the NSE, Nifty closed 81 points lower at 25,199 points. The day’s smart recovery came on the back of buying by foreign funds that recorded a net inflow of Rs 975 crore even as domestic funds were relatively muted with a net buying figure of Rs 97 crore. The day’s session also ended a 14-session winning run for Nifty.
According to Ajit Mishra, SVP (research) at Religare Broking, the markets ended their gaining streak, losing nearly half a percent due to weak global cues. In line with other Asian markets, domestic markets opened with a gap down, following a decline in US markets.