Metal stocks were the top drag, falling about 2%, while auto, public sector bank index were down over 1%, each.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee fell below 83 to the U.S. dollar for the first time since October 2022, as a jump in U.S. yields pressured Asian currencies.
India’s industrial output growth rate slipped to a three-month low of 3.7% year-on-year in June, while disappointing credit data added to worries about China’s slowing economy, compounded by property shocks.
Industrial output numbers were pretty weak, which is showing some weakness on the macro side as it is very important from the capex, growth and manufacturing angle, said Anita Gandhi, whole-time director at Arihant Capital Markets.
Foreign investors, who had bet on the country’s growth and cooling inflation in the last quarter turned net sellers over the last few sessions. Foreign investors sold shares worth 30.73 billion rupees ($370.8 million) on Friday, which is also causing some jitters among Indian investors, analysts said.
Investors are awaiting India’s retail inflation data, which likely accelerated to 6.40% in July on surging food prices, breaching the upper end of the Reserve Bank of India’s 2%-6% tolerance band for the first time in five months.
Among individual stocks, Adani Ports fell 2.7% after its auditor Deloitte resigned, amid concerns over certain related party transactions. Adani Group’s flagship company Adani Enterprises fell 4.3%.