Dalal Street reels under oil, inflation fears

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty extended their slide to a third straight session on Thursday, as surging crude oil prices amid escalating tensions in West Asia dampened investor sentiment.

A broad-based selloff, especially across FMCG, power and IT stocks, and weak global cues also kept domestic equities under pressure.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 460.30 points, or 0.62 per cent, to close at 73,249.39. During the day, the benchmark tumbled 704.58 points, or 0.95 per cent, to hit an intraday low of 73,005.11.

The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 123.70 points, or 0.54 per cent, to settle at 22,687.65. In the intraday session, the index plunged 256.5 points, or 1.12 per cent, to a low of 22,554.85. Among the Sensex constituents, Reliance Industries, Eternal, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Trent, Asian Paints, Infosys, ITC, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and Larsen & Toubro were the major laggards.

Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharmaceuticals, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HCL Technologies and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers. “Inflation concerns took centre stage today as renewed escalation in West Asia sent crude prices sharply higher. The rupee reversed its recent trend, weakening steadily through the session, which weighed on investor sentiment. Although the benchmark indices attempted a recovery led by banking stocks, the move failed to sustain at higher levels,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd. With domestic bond yields climbing back to recent highs, equity valuation premiums came under renewed scrutiny and selling broadened across almost all sectors, he added.

“Consequently, tracking negative global cues ahead of Japan’s inflation data, Indian equities ended lower after a volatile session, with mid- and small-cap segments underperforming large caps,” Nair said.