Sensex, Nifty extend losses into 2nd day on rate hike fears

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty buckled under selling pressure for the second straight session on Friday as a bearish trend in global equities and concerns over rate hikes by central banks unnerved investors.

Besides, selling pressure in index majors Reliance Industries, Infosys and L&T also dragged the benchmark indices lower, traders said. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 259.52 points or 0.41 per cent to settle at 62,979.37. During the day, it tumbled 364.77 points or 0.57 per cent to 62,874.12.

The NSE Nifty declined 105.75 points or 0.56 per cent to end at 18,665.50.

On a weekly, the BSE benchmark fell 405.21 points or 0.63 per cent and the Nifty dipped 160.5 points or 0.85 per cent.

”Nifty fell for the second consecutive session on June 23 pulled lower by negative global cues. Global stocks fell on Friday, extending their declines for the week and edging towards their worst week since March, as traders worried that central banks’ efforts to curb sticky inflation will lead to recessions and strengthen the US dollar,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

Tata Motors was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, skidding 1.77 per cent, followed by SBI, Power Grid, Tata Steel, Infosys, UltraTech Cement, Titan, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries and Maruti.

On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, NTPC, HCL Technologies, HDFC and Sun Pharma were the gainers.

”Global central banks are currently focused on addressing inflation and have reiterated their commitment to reaching their target levels, as evidenced by the hawkish commentary from (US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome) Powell and the unexpected rate hike by the Bank of England,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 1.24 per cent and smallcap index fell 1.17 per cent.

All the indices ended in the negative territory, with commodities declining by 1.87 per cent, oil & gas falling by 1.74 per cent, consumer durables (1.67 per cent), metal (1.61 per cent), utilities (1.34 per cent), industrials (1.17 per cent), IT (0.99 per cent) and auto (0.94 per cent).

”The downward revision of earnings guidance by a major US tech company Accenture has raised concerns about potential earnings downgrades in the Indian IT sector, resulting in pressure on IT stocks.

”However, the domestic market is not expected to experience a significant correction due to favourable domestic economic indicators and correction in international commodities prices to sustain earnings growth on a QoQ basis,” Nair added.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

Equity benchmark indices in Europe were also trading in the red. The US markets ended on a mixed note in the overnight trade on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.11 per cent to USD 73.32 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 693.28 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark fell by 284.26 points or 0.45 per cent to settle at 63,238.89 on Thursday. The Nifty went lower by 85.60 points or 0.45 per cent to end at 18,771.25.