New Delhi: After a four-day winning streak, major Indian equity benchmarks on Thursday lost momentum and tumbled following the massive Covid outbreak in the country and weakness in global markets. During Thursday’s morning trading, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened sharply and opened with a fall of 0.9 per cent.
Traders said that global stocks fell after minutes of the recent Federal Reserve meeting, indicating that the US central bank may sharply hike interest rates to quell inflation, traders said.
The 30-share index of BSE closed at 59,601.84, down 621.31 points (1.03 per cent). Similarly, the NSE Nifty closed at 17,745.90, down 179.35 points (1 per cent).
Tech Mahindra was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, falling over 2.5 per cent, followed by UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, HDFC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank and TCS.
On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, Titan and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers.
A total of 11 out of 15 sector gauges compiled by NSE closed in the red. Nifty IT, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Bank fell up to 1.55 per cent.
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However, the broader markets outperformed their large-cap counterparts. The BSE Midcap index closed down just 0.05 per cent, while the BSE Smallcap index rose 0.01 per cent.
According to the minutes of the US Fed’s December 14-15 policy meeting, policymakers believe the US job market is quite healthy and ultra-low interest rates are no longer needed. Reliance Securities said in a research note, “…the rate hike already projected by the US Fed could lead to an outflow from the domestic markets and impact sentiments.”
Shares in Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo ended with significant losses after heavy selling in US markets. Hong Kong closed in the green. Stock exchanges in Europe also witnessed heavy selling pressure in mid-session deals.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.25 per cent to $81 a barrel.
Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they bought shares worth Rs 336.83 crore, according to exchange data.
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