Mumbai, Oct 22 (PTI) Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty extended their slide to a third straight session on Thursday, as surging crude oil prices amid escalating tensions in West Asia dampened investor sentiment.
A broad-based selloff, especially across FMCG, power and IT stocks, and weak global cues also kept domestic equities under pressure.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 460.30 points, or 0.62 per cent, to close at 73,249.39. During the day, the benchmark tumbled 704.58 points, or 0.95 per cent, to hit an intraday low of 73,005.11.
The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 123.70 points, or 0.54 per cent, to settle at 22,687.65. In the intraday session, the index plunged 256.5 points, or 1.12 per cent, to a low of 22,554.85.
Among the Sensex constituents, Reliance Industries, Eternal, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Trent, Asian Paints, Infosys, ITC, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and Larsen & Toubro were the major laggards.
Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharmaceuticals, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HCL Technologies and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.
“Inflation concerns took centre stage today as renewed escalation in West Asia sent crude prices sharply higher. The rupee reversed its recent trend, weakening steadily through the session, which weighed on investor sentiment. Although the benchmark indices attempted a recovery led by banking stocks, the move failed to sustain at higher levels,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd.
With domestic bond yields climbing back to recent highs, equity valuation premiums came under renewed scrutiny and selling broadened across almost all sectors, he added.
“Consequently, tracking negative global cues ahead of Japan’s inflation data, Indian equities ended lower after a volatile session, with mid- and small-cap segments underperforming large caps,” Nair said.
The BSE SmallCap Select Index fell 0.94 per cent, and the MidCap Select Index dipped 0.74 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, FMCG declined the most by 1.63 per cent, followed by Insurance (1.44 per cent), Capital Goods (1.43 per cent), Focused IT (1.30 per cent), Housing Finance (1.23 per cent), IT (1.20 per cent), Power (1.06 per cent), Industrials (1.04 per cent), and Consumer Durables (0.97 per cent).
The initial public offering (IPO) of Jio Platforms Ltd was subscribed 5.36 times after investors showed overwhelming interest on the second day of bidding on Thursday.
Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said, “We expect the RBI to deliver a cumulative rate hike of 100 basis points over the current tightening cycle, taking the repo rate toward 6.25 per cent.
“The weekly Sensex expiry added to intraday volatility, while rising crude oil prices and concerns over global liquidity kept investors cautious,” said Vindhyachal Prasad, VP of Research at InCred Markets. US Treasury liquidity absorption and the ongoing sell-off in AI-related stocks are adding to global uncertainty.
A total of 2,965 stocks declined, while 1,388 advanced and 212 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Asian markets ended sharply lower, with South Korea’s Kospi declining 3.52 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index 3.03 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark 2.40 per cent and Shanghai’s SSE Composite index 1.48 per cent.
European markets are trading lower in mid-session deals on Thursday. US markets ended higher on Wednesday.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 3 per cent to trade above USD 112 per barrel.
Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,022.32 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also purchased shares worth Rs 1,614.32 crore, according to exchange data.
On Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 143.21 points to close at 73,709.69, while the broader NSE Nifty dropped 77.60 points to end at 22,811.35, marking their second straight day of losses. PTI HG SHM
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