Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty fell to 1.25 percent, rupee dropped another 26 paise
On Tuesday, Indian equities fell further for the fifth session in a row due to a slew of headwinds, and the domestic currency widened losses against the strengthening US dollar against key rivals, while higher crude oil and surging metal prices fueled deep inflationary concerns.
Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty fell up to 1.25 percent on Tuesday, owing to sustained selloffs in HDFC twins and IT counters following earnings announcements.
The BSE Sensex fell 703.59 points, or 1.23 percent, to 56,463.15. Intraday, the index dropped over 1,160 points to its lowest level of the day, 56,009. Similarly, the NSE Nifty fell 215 points, or 1.25 percent, to 16,958.65. Both indices closed near their lows in about six weeks.
HDFC and HDFC Bank shares fell 6.10 percent and 4.28 percent, respectively, continuing their sluggish performance and emerging as the top losers on the Sensex chart. IT behemoth Infosys fell 3.55 percent as the company’s quarterly earnings fell short of market expectations.
ITC, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, and HUL were among the other major losers.
Except for Reliance, iCICI Bank, SBI, and Bajaj Finance, all Sensex constituents closed in the red.
BSE IT, FMCG, and Teck indices fell the most – up to 2.64 percent. Except for the Energy Index, all sectoral indices fell in line with the benchmark Sensex.
“The market was concerned about the escalation of geopolitical tensions and hyperinflation as crude and metal prices rose. Following sectoral headwinds highlighted in weak Q4 results, the Indian IT sector has continued to lead the downtrend. Due to FII selling as the global market weakened, banking stocks experienced a quick sell-off during the closing hours “Geojit Financial Services’ Head of Research, Vinod Nair, stated
