Sensex, Nifty fall for 3rd straight day on inflation, rate hike worries

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined for a third straight day on Friday due to profit taking in consumer durables, FMCG, banking and IT shares amid lingering worries over commodity prices, interest rate hike and geopolitical tensions.

The 30-share BSE benchmark dropped 233.48 points or 0.41 per cent to settle at 57,362.20. During the day, it tanked 495.44 points to 57,100.24.

The broader NSE Nifty declined 69.75 points or 0.40 per cent to settle at 17,153.

The equity indices closed the week lower after two straight weeks of gains. Sensex fell by 501 points while Nifty closed the week lower by 134 points.

”The Indian equity market continue to be in a grind, influenced by and reacting to incremental news flow on the global front, especially related to the geopolitical situation and Fed rhetoric. The two key challenges and monitorables for the markets in the near term are the persistent inflationary pressures and the rising bond yields,” said Milind Muchhala, Executive Director, Julius Baer.

From the 30-share pack, Titan fell the most by 3.59 per cent, Tech Mahindra by 2.35 per cent, Maruti Suzuki India by 1.79 per cent, and Wipro by 1.18 per cent.

Among major index downers, HDFC Bank declined 0.76 per cent, TCS by 1.12 per cent, and Infosys by 0.55 per cent.

ICICI Bank, Nestle India, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies, Tata Steel and ITC also dropped.

On the other hand, Dr Reddy’s continued its steller run, rising by 0.77 per cent. Asian Paints rose 0.76 per cent, and Reliance Industries by 0.73 per cent. Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India and Kotak Mahindra Bank also advanced.

”After the recent 10 per cent rally, the market has turned sideways with a negative bias due to increase in commodity prices, tightening monetary policy and inflationary pressure. Domestic market is showing strong resilience but to sustain the trend a lot will depend on the outcome of the war and commodity prices,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap dipped 0.36 per cent and smallcap gauge declined 0.33 per cent.

A total of 2,078 declined, while 1,329 advanced and 103 remained unchanged.

Among BSE sectoral indices, consumer durables declined the most by 2.28 per cent, followed by capital goods (0.95 per cent), FMCG (0.72 per cent) and Information Technology (0.68 per cent).

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower, while Tokyo and Seoul settled with marginal gains.

Stock exchanges in the US ended higher in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.44 per cent to USD 117.32 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,740.71 crore on Thursday, according to stock exchange data.