Indian stocks: Nifty, Sensex fall to lowest since end-October
India’s benchmark stock index slumped more than 1.5 percent on Friday to its lowest since late October, extending losses for a fourth straight session, reflecting a sell-off on Wall Street overnight after data showed economic resilience and reinforced talk of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
“Markets are in a sell-off as weak global signals and bearish external factors push both major benchmarks below psychological levels,” said Amol Athawale, vice president of technical research at Kotak Securities.
The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 980.93 points, or 1.61 percent, to close at 59,845.29, its lowest since Oct. 28. The Sensex opened at 60,205.56 and fell as low as 59,765.56.
The broader NSE Nifty-50 index fell to its lowest point since Oct. 28 after falling below 18,000 for the first time since November. The Nifty plunged 320.55 points, or 1.77 percent, to close at 17,806.80.
Tata Steel’s Sensex fell about 5%. Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Maruti Suzuki are other significant laggards.
Stock markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in losses on other Asian exchanges.
“The market fell sharply and dropped around 2 percent, continuing the current corrective trend,” Ajit Mishra, vice president of technical research at Religare Broking, told PTI.
this Rupee loses ground against recovering dollar On Friday, strong U.S. data added to concerns that the Federal Reserve will need to maintain its hawkish stance to limit inflation. Asian markets fell on Friday, mirroring a sell-off on Wall Street.
Weekly U.S. jobless claims data suggested the labor market remains tight and the economy recovered faster than expected in the third quarter.
IG market analyst Tony Sycamore told Reuters the data from the U.S. “raised concerns that further monetary tightening in 2023 would be necessary to curb inflation”.
The positive data points, often seen as favorable, added to investor concerns that the federal funds target rate could rise and remain there for longer than expected, increasing the likelihood of an economic slowdown.
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