Markets

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty slumped in early trade on Friday dragged down by metal stocks, foreign fund outflows and weak global cues.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex tumbled 412.8 points to 80,877.16 in early trade.

The NSE Nifty tanked 129.85 points to 24,418.85. Among the 30-share Sensex blue-chip pack, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India and Reliance Industries were the biggest laggards. Bharti Airtel, Nestle, Adani Ports and Hindustan Unilever were the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,560.01 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Retail inflation declined in November to 5.48% and came within the Reserve Bank's comfort zone mainly due to easing food prices, creating headroom for a rate cut at the central bank's rate-setting panel meeting under new Governor Sanjay Malhotra in February. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based headline inflation was at 6.21% in October and 5.55 per cent in November 2023.

India's industrial production (IIP) growth slowed to 3.5% year-on-year in October 2024, mainly due to poor performance of mining, power and manufacturing, as per official data released on Thursday.