Indian shares experienced a decline on Thursday, primarily influenced by the underperformance of information technology (IT) stocks, while Reliance Industries’ demerged financial services unit, Jio Financial Services, settled at a higher-than-expected price during a special trading session. The Nifty 50 index recorded a 0.27% drop, settling at 19,780.05, while the S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.31%, closing at 66,891.69 as of 10:11 a.m. IST.
During the special session, shares of Reliance Industries were traded to determine the share value of its demerged financial services unit, Jio Financial Services. Surpassing street estimates, the discovered price for Jio Financial Services reached 261.85 rupees. However, IT stocks, which hold significant weight in the indices, experienced a decline of over 1%, leading the overall market losses. These IT companies had witnessed a four-consecutive session rally after U.S. inflation data showed moderation, but the winning streak was interrupted in the previous session. Given that IT firms generate a significant portion of their revenue from the U.S. and Europe, investors are closely observing the impact of global economic developments on the sector.
In the broader Asian markets, sentiments improved across global equities following a surprise moderation in UK inflation. However, specific individual shares in the Indian market witnessed significant movements. Transformers and Rectifiers India experienced a sharp tumble of over 15% after receiving a “stop deal” notice from Gujarat Energy Transmission due to alleged submission of forged material dispatch clearance certificate.
(With agency inputs.)