Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended Thursday’s trading session in a negative terrain, weighed down by a sharp sell-off in Adani group stocks. The escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict also dampened the investors sentiments. Index made a negative start and extended its losses, amid Foreign fund outflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling as they sold equities of Rs 3,411 crore worth on November 19. Traders were concerned as domestic rating agency Icra said India's real GDP growth for the September quarter is likely to decline to 6.5 per cent due to heavy rains and weaker corporate performance. Some cautiousness also came as Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said India’s economic growth may have slowed in the September quarter, but overall, there is not much downside risk to 6.5-7 per cent growth in the current fiscal year.
In afternoon session, index continued to trade near day’s low point and remained lower till end of the day, as traders remained cautious with the Reserve Bank of India's state of the economy report stating that the rise in headline inflation can damage the real economy if not checked, even as the festive consumption demand and farm sector recovery have helped the Indian economy to overcome a lull seen in the second quarter and put it back on track. Meanwhile, Adani Group stocks namely Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Power, Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, Ambuja Cements, ACC and Adani Total Gas witnessed heavy losses after US prosecutors indicted billionaire Gautam Adani and seven other senior business executives in connection with an alleged $250 million bribery scheme. Finally, market ended below 23,350 marks.