The festive cheer was missing on the last trading session of Samvat 2080 on Thursday as selling in IT and FMCG stocks dragged the benchmark Sensex down over 553 points.

Investors are now eyeing the special one-hour Muhurat session on Friday to mark the beginning of the new year — Samvat 2081.

The mood remains subdued at least in the near term amid persistent outflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), weak corporate earnings and apprehensions over the outcome of the US presidential elections.

The 30-share Sensex crashed 553.12 points to finish at 79389.06 after tanking 654.25 points during intra-day trades to 79287.93.

On the NSE, the broader Nifty fell 135.50 points to close at 24205.35.

In Samvat 2080, while the Sensex was up 22.31 per cent, the Nifty gained 24.60 per cent.

IT stocks led the group of laggards following disappointing numbers from Meta and Microsoft.

Investors have concerns about the growth momentum even as they increase spending on AI.

All the top four losers in the Sensex pack were the IT stocks followed by a mix of FMCG, banking and auto stocks amid worries over a slowdown in urban demand.

Analysts said they feared more losses had it not been for Larsen & Toubro shares which zoomed 6.38 per cent because of better than expected results.

“The key benchmark indices traded with mild cuts while experiencing a broader sell-off in the technology sector due to weakness in the US IT companies, which has led the domestic IT companies to come under the shadow of underperformance,” Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

“Investors remain cautious owing to weak domestic earnings for the second quarter. However, the market expects the momentum to reverse in the second half due to a rebound in core sector data and government spending, which are likely to influence the Samvat 2081 investment strategy,” he said.

Siddhartha Khemka of Motilal Oswal Financial Services cautioned greater volatility as the markets enter an eventful week. ``Investor’s focus would remain on the ongoing result season as several index heavyweights are set to announce their quarterly results next week. Globally, US presidential polls to be conducted on November 5, followed by US Fed and Bank of England interest rate decisions would keep them busy.’’.

While the Muhurat session will be held between 6pm and 7pm on Friday, experts remain divided over how Vikram Samvat 2081 will pan out.

Some brokerages remain optimistic saying that factors such as a turnaround in corporate performance in the second half and interest rate cuts from the RBI bode well for equities.

There are others who are of the view that returns next year will be relatively muted compared with Samvat 2080.

A divergent trend was visible in the broader market: the BSE smallcap gauge rose 1.62 per cent and the midcap index fell 0.34 per cent.

Rupee at new low

At the inter-bank forex markets on Thursday, the rupee hit a fresh low against the dollar at 84.0925 but held its ground as the RBI maintained a tight leash on its movement such as the recent past. The rupee settled flat at 84.08.

The domestic currency like its Asian peers has been under pressure due to a possible Donald Trump victory.

The dollar index which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies was trading at 104.13, a gain of 0.12 per cent while the 10-year US treasury was ruling at 4.31 per cent against its previous close of 4.26 per cent.