Niyantha Shekhar / CC BY 2.0
Indian shares fell in Friday’s opening minutes, putting the recent recovery under pressure as investors weighed higher domestic inflation and expensive oil against renewed foreign buying. At 9:23 am IST on 13 November, the Economic Times’ Nifty 50 page showed 25,083.05, down 216.30 points, or 0.85%, from Thursday’s close of 25,299.35. It recorded an opening level of 25,209.85. These are early-session observations, not the day’s closing result; the page did not specify a feed delay.
The weakness extended beyond a handful of stocks. The same snapshot showed five Nifty constituents advancing and 45 declining, while the Nifty Bank was down 1.03%. The Economic Times’ opening report identified Trent and Bajaj Finance among the leading drags. That establishes the direction and breadth of the initial selling, not a single explanation for every trade.
Inflation is an important part of the backdrop. Official figures released on Thursday put October’s provisional consumer-price inflation at 6.09%, up from September’s 5.54%; food inflation reached 8.94%. Higher household costs can constrain discretionary spending, while persistent inflation complicates the interest-rate outlook. Neither the release nor the opening decline establishes what the Reserve Bank will decide next.
Oil and investment flows pull in different directions. Reuters’ pre-opening report described higher crude prices as a counterweight to strong overseas inflows. Foreign buying can support demand for Indian shares, but it does not prevent individual sessions from falling. A recovery later on Friday would need broader participation than the opening snapshot showed; continued weakness in banks would leave the benchmark vulnerable.
In bullion, the latest IBJA closing benchmark available on its official page was dated 12 November: gold of 999 purity at ₹1,37,692 per 10 grams and silver of 999 purity at ₹1,81,040 per kilogram. Both exclude 3% GST and making charges. Friday’s rates had not yet been uploaded. These are dated national benchmarks, not current shop prices in Bhopal, Lucknow or Delhi.
