Sensex, Nifty extend losses into fifth session on rate hike fears

Equity benchmark indices buckled under selling pressure for the fifth straight session on Thursday as a bearish trend in Asian markets and concerns over rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) unnerved investors.
 

Besides, fresh foreign fund outflows also hit investor sentiments, traders said. In a highly volatile trade amid monthly derivatives expiry, the BSE Sensex declined 139.18 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 59,605.80. During the day, it hit a high of 59,960.04 and a low of 59,406.31. The NSE Nifty50 slipped 43.05 points or 0.25 per cent to end at 17,511.25.
 

In the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, Larsen & Toubro, Titan, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, HDFC Bank and HDFC were the major laggards.
 

On the other hand, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, ITC, State Bank of India, Tata Steel and Sun Pharma were among the gainers. “The equity market traded cautiously between gains and losses as the minutes of the central bank policy meeting revealed concerns over high inflation and its commitment to bring inflation under control.

“In response to the heightened fears of rate hikes, the US 10 yr treasury yield continued to stay high, near 4 per cent. Additionally, the dollar index rose as the greenback cheered over hawkish Fed comments and rising geopolitical tensions,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE mid-cap gauge declined 0.40 per cent, while the small-cap index gained marginally by 0.06 per cent.
 

Among the sectoral indices, realty declined by 1.60 per cent, utilities by 1.29 per cent, power (1.19 per cent), consumer durables (0.95 per cent) and capital goods (0.84 per cent).
 

FMCG, auto, bankex, metal, oil & gas and services were the gainers.
 

Foreign Portfolio Investors offloaded shares worth Rs 579.82 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.