The topline equity indices on the BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell for the second successive day, slipping around 0.5 per cent on Thursday weighed by banking stocks, while the rupee ended at a record low after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates and indicated more hikes than markets had expected.
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The S&P BSE Sensex fell 337.06 points (0.57 per cent) to end at 59,119.72 while the Nifty 50 declined 88.55 points (0.50 per cent) to settle at 17,629.80. Both the indices had opened over 0.6 per cent lower earlier in the day and fell as much as 1.05 per cent in the intraday trade with the BSE benchmark hitting a low of 58,832.78 and the broader Nifty touching 17,532.45.
On the Sensex pack, Power Grid Corporation of India, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Reliance Industries were the top losers on Thursday. In contrast, Titan Company, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Maruti Suzuki India, ITC, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Bharti Airtel and Mahindra & Mahindra were the top gainers.
On the sectoral front, the Bank Nifty fell 1.39 per cent and the Nifty Financial Services declined 1.38 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty FMCG index rose 1.30 per cent and the Nifty Media index climbed 1.85 per cent.
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In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index rose 82.03 points (0.32 per cent) to end at 25,859.88 and the S&P BSE SmallCap climbed 138.36 points (0.47 per cent) to settle at 29,377.35. On NSE, the volatility index or India VIX fell 2.63 per cent to 18.82.
“Fed turned more hawkish than anticipated increasing its rate forecast to 4.4 per cent by the end of 2022. The indication is that 125 bps more rate hikes can be expected in the next two policy meetings scheduled this year. Following this, the US dollar index rose above 111, depreciating rupee to beyond 80. Indian stock market was able to sustain its resilience with limited cuts but if the rupee continues its weakness domestic market would turn less attractive for foreign investors in the short-term, effecting performance,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Global Market (from AP)
Global stock markets sank Thursday after the Federal Reserve delivered another big interest rate hike to cool galloping inflation and raised its outlook for more increases. London and Frankfurt declined after Switzerland’s central bank also raised its benchmark lending rate by its biggest margin to date. Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong declined.
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Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell 1.7 per cent to a two-month low after the Fed raised its key lending rate Wednesday by 0.75 percentage points to a 14-year high. In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 0.5 per cent to 7,204.57 and Frankfurt’s DAX sank 0.5 per cent to 12,705.94. The CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.7 per cent to 5,989.63.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 future was up 0.1 per cent and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent. On Wednesday, the Dow fell 1.7 per cent and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.8 per cent.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index sank 0.3 per cent to 3,108.90 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo slid 0.6 per cent to 27,153.83. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 1.7 per cent to 18,134.63. South Korea’s Kospi sank 0.6 per cent to 2,332.31.
