Mumbai: Key stock indices Sensex and Nifty declined over half a per cent on Thursday due to selling in financials, auto and realty shares after five-month high inflation fanned rate hike fears.
A weak rupee and rising crude prices also impacted the market sentiment, traders said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 390.58 points or 0.68 per cent to settle at 57,235.33. The broader NSE Nifty fell 109.25 points or 0.64 per cent to end at 17,014.35.
Wipro was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 7.03 per cent, followed by SBI, L&T, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and HDFC twins.
On the other hand, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s Reliance Industries and Ultra Tech Cement were among the gainers, rising up to 3.19 per cent.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, “Retail inflation persisting above the desired levels has been a major cause of concern for the Indian economy. This, coupled with declining industrial production in August may not be taken well by the market because Indian economy is anticipated to sustain its resilience.
“In this backdrop, the impending US inflation figures, which are forecasted to remain high, may cause volatility in the global market.”
Markets made a tepid start and settled with a cut of over half a per cent, tracking weak domestic cues. Mixed earnings and not so encouraging macroeconomic data dented sentiment, Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
In twin blows to Indian economic revival, higher food prices drove retail inflation to a five-month high of 7.4 per cent, while factory output fell for the first time in 18 months.
The second consecutive month of rise in consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation will add to the pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to again raise interest rates to tame high prices.
In the broader market, BSE Midcap declined 0.73 per cent while Smallcap dropped 0.45 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, Capital Goods fell by 1.22 per cent, Bankex by 1.21 per cent, Financial Services by 1.13 per cent, and Realty by 1.08 per cent. Power, Utilities and Industrials also closed down nearly 1 per cent.
Metal and Healthcare indices bucked the trend to close higher.
Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said that Nifty remained volatile as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of US inflation data. The index has found support at 200DMA for the third consecutive day.
Investors are awaiting US consumer inflation to be released later on Thursday and retail sales data on Friday which, they expect, will reinforce Federal Reserve plans for more aggressive interest rate hikes.
In Asian markets, bourses in Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul closed in the red.
However, stock exchanges in Europe were trading with gains in mid-session deals.
Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude futures increased by 0.31 per cent to USD 92.74 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the Indian capital market on Thursday as they sold shares worth Rs 1,636.43 crore, as per exchange data.
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