Mumbai, May 31: Indian stock markets closed in the red on Friday amid a cautious trading session, driven by losses in IT, metal, and auto stocks, and weak cues from Asian markets. Investors remained on edge following a U.S. court’s temporary reinstatement of reciprocal tariffs, raising trade uncertainty.
The BSE Sensex slipped 182 points to end at 81,451.01, while the NSE Nifty fell by 82.90 points, closing at 24,750.70. During intraday trade, the Sensex had dropped over 340 points.
IT major Tech Mahindra led the losers, falling 1.73%, followed by declines in HCL Tech, Infosys, NTPC, and Tata Steel. On the other hand, gains were seen in stocks like SBI, HDFC Bank, L&T, Reliance, and Bajaj Finserv.
Sectorally, metal stocks saw the sharpest fall, down 1.68%, followed by IT, commodities, and auto sectors. In contrast, the banking sector showed resilience.
Market sentiment remained subdued ahead of India’s Q4 GDP data, expected post-market hours. Despite global uncertainties, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their inflows, anticipating a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India and positive domestic growth figures.
The broader markets saw mixed movement — the BSE Midcap index slipped 0.39%, while the Smallcap index edged up by 0.17%.