Indian share benchmarks set for longest weekly losing run in 25 years

Indian equities experienced their longest weekly loss in 25 years on Thursday, as foreign outflows kept dampening risk appetite. The Nifty 50 fell 0.28% to 22,558.95, while the BSE Sensex dropped 0.12% to 72,389.51. The markets will be shut on Friday for a national holiday. On Wednesday, foreign investors sold Indian shares amounting to $1.06 billion, adding to the $3.6 billion offloaded in the prior five days, pushing their yearly selling to a record $27.8 billion.

Brent crude futures declined to around $97 a barrel after Iran stated it had received the U.S. response to its latest ceasefire suggestion. Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump declared he had rejected the proposal. "With markets closing tomorrow, the session is characterized by cautious positioning ahead of the extended break," stated Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, founder and CEO of HST Wealth.

"Foreign outflows and high borrowing costs continue to undermine sentiment, even if a dip in crude provides some relief after recent energy price surges." Of the 16 major sectors, 11 declined. Small-caps and mid-caps slipped 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively. The auto index dropped 2.4%, with Bajaj Auto falling 6% and Mahindra & Mahindra losing 2.4% due to dwindling domestic sales.

The IT index climbed 0.9%, as data revealed a slower-than-expected increase in U.S. inflation in August, reducing the likelihood of a rate hike later in the month. Kotak Mahindra Bank advanced 3% after appointing Anup Kumar Saha as its new CEO for a three-year term, succeeding Ashok Vaswani.