Domestic equity benchmarks opened lower on Friday and extended losses in early trade, tracking weak global cues and profit-booking after the sharp November rally.

Sensex declined about 450 points or 0.55 per cent to 81,457.74 in early deals, while Nifty fell 182 points or 0.71 per cent to 25,117.

Earlier, the Sensex opened at 81,833.78, down 77.23 points or 0.09 per cent, while the 50-scrip basket started the session at 25,209.85, down 89.50 points or 0.35 per cent.

Sectoral indices were also largely in the red zone, in which Nifty Realty led the fall, down over 1 per cent.

Meanwhile, Nifty Chemicals, Nifty Auto and Nifty Cement declined by up to 1 per cent. Nifty Oil & Gas, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty PSU Bank also traded lower.

On the other hand, healthcare and pharmaceuticals shares were trading higher. Nifty Pharma, Nifty Healthcare and Nifty 500 Healthcare surged up to 0.39 per cent.

However, the selling came after Nifty’s spectacular 9.7 per cent rally so far in November.

According to the market experts, the most important trigger for the swift rally was the aggressive comeback of the FIIs assisted by the weakening of the AI trade and improving earnings growth in India.

“Indications are that the FII buying will continue taking the monthly inflows easily to above Rs 1 lakh crore, which will be a record high. With this kind of aggressive FII buying, the bears will be on the back foot,” the market experts said.

They further noted that there are headwinds emerging that can spoil the party. Rising inflation in the US and India means a rising interest rate scenario which can turn out to be adverse for equity markets.

“In the US two rate hikes are likely in December and January. With the October CPI inflation in India rising to 6.09 per cent, the RBI will have to raise rates at least by 25 bp each in December and February. These concerns along with the ongoing DII profit booking can apply brakes on the rally, in the near term,” they added.

Additionally, Brent crude jumped to $95 per barrel amid fresh geopolitical concerns involving Saudi energy infrastructure and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz.

In Asia, markets showed a mixed trend. Japan’s Nikkei traded about 1 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s KOSPI were up to 1 per cent down.

Overnight in the US, Wall Street ended lower on Thursday with the S&P 500 down 0.35 per cent and the Nasdaq down 0.39 per cent.

A passenger was apprehended and handed over to the airport police after allegedly being linked to a hoax hijack threat targeting an Air India flight from Kolkata to Mumbai, officials said on Thursday.

According to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the action followed an incident on Wednesday involving Air India flight AI 2772 after a handwritten threat note was found inside the aircraft’s lavatory shortly before its scheduled departure.

The note, which warned that the aircraft would be hijacked at 11.10 a.m., was discovered by a cabin crew member at around 10.37 a.m. The alert immediately triggered standard security protocols, prompting authorities to initiate a comprehensive security response.

As part of the precautionary measures, all 105 passengers on board were deboarded and the aircraft was moved to an isolation bay for detailed inspection and security checks. Multiple security agencies conducted mandatory screening procedures to ensure the safety of passengers and crew.

The flight, originally scheduled to depart at around 10.30 a.m., remained grounded for several hours while security personnel completed the required checks. After authorities found no credible threat, the warning was declared a hoax.

The aircraft was subsequently cleared for operations and departed for Mumbai at 5.38 p.m.

AAI said the passenger linked to the incident was later handed over to the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport Police Station for further investigation. Authorities have launched a probe into the matter and are examining the circumstances surrounding the threat note.

Meanwhile, last month, an Air India flight from Frankfurt to Delhi made an emergency landing in Jaipur after reportedly transmitting Squawk 7500, the international code used to indicate a hijacking.

Reports claim that the alert was received by Ahmedabad Air Traffic Control (ATC), following which the aircraft landed safely in Jaipur. Further details about the circumstances that triggered the alert were not immediately available.

Squawk 7500 is an internationally recognised aviation transponder code that pilots use to discreetly alert air traffic control to a hijacking or unlawful interference with an aircraft.

Domestic equity benchmarks traded higher in early deals on Thursday after crude oil prices declined up to 1 per cent.

Sensex touched an intraday high of 82,057.39, up 0.38 per cent or 316 points in the morning trade. Nifty was up 0.34 per cent or 86 points at 25,342.

Earlier in the day, the headline indices had opened lower, tracking cautious sentiment across Asian markets.

Sector-wise, Nifty IT was the biggest drag, falling over 1 per cent. Nifty Auto and Nifty Healthcare also declined up to almost 1 per cent.

On the gainers’ side, Nifty PSU Bank rose 0.23 per cent, Nifty Media was up 0.2 per cent and Nifty Consumer Durables added 0.14 per cent.

According to market experts, the Nifty rally of 9.55 per cent in seven trading sessions so far in November is being led primarily by aggressive buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

“The tug of war between FIIs and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) till November saw FIIs on the sell side and DIIs on the buy side,” they said.

Now the positions have been completely reversed, with FIIs turning aggressive buyers and DIIs turning consistent sellers. This FIIs vs DIIs position will set the market trend in the near term, the experts said.

However, FIIs have already invested Rs 65,735 crore in Indian equities so far in November.

“This trend is likely to continue and has the potential to reach an all-time high number. Impressive earnings growth as evidenced by good Q2 results and macro relief from lower crude prices will support the rally. DIIs may continue profit booking, putting brakes on the rally,” the experts said.

Apart from that, an important data point to watch on Thursday will be the October CPI inflation number.

In commodities, Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, traded more than 1 per cent or $1 lower at $91.51 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also slipped nearly 1 per cent to $85.41 per barrel.

Asian markets traded mixed on Thursday as investors remained cautious amid fresh volatility in Nvidia, the chipmaker at the heart of this year’s AI-driven rally.

Overnight, US markets closed higher on Wednesday as concerns over heavy artificial intelligence spending eased.