Market benchmark indices climbed in opening trade on Thursday (October 17, 2024) but later gave up all the initial gains and were trading lower amid unabated foreign fund outflows.

The BSE Sensex climbed 280.04 points to 81,781.40 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 58.2 points to 25,029.50.

However, later, both benchmark indices turned negative and traded lower. The BSE benchmark gauge quoted 210.87 points lower at 81,265.97, while the Nifty traded 116.15 points down at 24,848.25.

The biggest gainers among the 30 Sensex firms were Infosys, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, and Tata Consultancy Services.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.

According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹3,435.94 crore on Wednesday (October 16, 2024).

In Asian markets, Seoul and Tokyo quoted lower while Shanghai and Hong Kong traded higher.

The U.S. markets ended in the positive territory on Wednesday (October 16, 2024).

"Nifty slipped below the 25,000 mark in yesterday’s trade, and while today’s session seeks recovery, sentiment remains fragile due to persistent FII selling (with ₹67,300 crore outflows in October), underwhelming Q2 earnings, ongoing Middle East tensions, and concerns over China’s economic outlook," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.28% to $74.43 a barrel.

Falling for the second day, the BSE benchmark declined by 318.76 points or 0.39% to settle at 81,501.36 on Wednesday (October 16, 2024). The Nifty declined by 86.05 points or 0.34% to 24,971.30.