India Stocks: Indian shares slide as US growth concerns, foreign sell-off weigh

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals

24/02/2025 10:46

(Updates for market close)
    By Vivek Kumar M and Indranil Sarkar
       Feb 24 (Reuters) - India's benchmark indexes closed
lower on Monday, extending their losing streak to a fifth
straight session, as concerns over slowing growth in the U.S.
and persistent selling by foreign investors rattled domestic
investors.
    The Nifty 50  .NSEI  fell 1.06% to 22,553.35, while the BSE
Sensex  .BSESN  lost 1.14% to 74,454.41, their lowest levels in
nearly eight months.
    Domestic equities have been under selling pressure for most
of February. The blue-chip Nifty 50 has fallen in 15 out of 17
trading sessions, losing over 4%, on consistent foreign
outflows, uncertainty about U.S. tariff policies, and concerns
over slowing domestic growth.
    The session's drop came on the back of data on Friday that
showed U.S. business activity tumbled in February, pressuring
emerging markets such as India, which has companies earning a
significant amount of revenue from clients in the U.S.   
    Ten of the 13 major sectors fell on the day, with
heavyweight financials  .NIFTYFIN  and information technology
 .NIFTYIT  falling 0.8% and 2.7%, respectively, which analysts
said was due to a sell-off from foreign portfolio investors
(FPI) with substantial exposure to these sectors.
    The two indexes combined accounted for nearly two-thirds of
the Nifty 50's losses on the day.
    The excitement around China has further intensified the FPI
sell-off, two fund managers said.
    "China is getting a lot of attention due to attractive
valuations and excitement around their tech sector," said Anand
Vardarajan, business head at Tata Asset Management.
    The broader and more domestically focussed mid-cap
 .NIFMDCP100  and small-cap  .NIFSMCP100  indexes also fell 0.9%
and 1%, respectively.
    The indexes are down 18% and 21%, respectively, from their
record-high levels on concerns over costlier valuations and weak
earnings.
    Bucking the trend, auto  .NIFTYAUTO  stocks rose 0.2%,
following a sharp fall in the previous week on looming tariff
worries.
    Glenmark Pharma  GLEN.NS  advanced 1.8% after settling
antitrust and consumer protection lawsuits related to a generic
cholesterol drug.
    

 (Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Indranil Sarkar in Bengaluru;
Editing by Rashmi Aich, Varun H K, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Janane
Venkatraman)
 ((VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com;))