Oct 31 Reuters Indian shares fell on Thursday, logging their worst monthly performance since March 2020, as record monthly foreign outflows and lacklustre corporate earnings pummelled investor sentiment.

The NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.56 to 24,205.35, while the BSE Sensex lost 0.69 to 79,389.06.

Both the benchmarks lost about 6 in October, their worst monthly performance since March 2020 when COVID19 lockdowns spurred a sharp slide across global markets.

The indexes also snapped a fourmonth winning streak during which they gained about 15, helped by policy continuity after India39;s national elections and on macroeconomic stability.

China39;s stimulus announcement which triggered record monthly foreign outflows from Indian shares and slowing earnings momentum together piled the pressure on Indian markets in October, MRB Partners, a global investment research firm, said in a note.

Foreign institutional investors FII were net sellers of Indian shares for 23 straight sessions until Wednesday and dumped stocks worth 11 billion 918.19 billion rupees in October, the highest monthly outflow on record.

The key monitorable for markets is how FIIs position themselves in November after this month39;s carnage, said Ajit Mishra, senior vice president of research at Religare Broking said.

Auto and consumer stocks fell 13 and 10 in October and were among the biggest monthly losers, hurt by weak quarterly earnings by key constituents like Maruti Suzuki and Hindustan Unilever as well…