Sensex, Nifty Fall For Eighth Straight Week Amid FII Selling
Rupee Slide, Rising Bond Yields, High Crude Prices Weigh On Sentiment
Indian equity markets fell for the eighth consecutive week on Thursday, with selling pressure intensifying amid a sharp decline in the rupee, sustained foreign fund outflows, rising bond yields, high crude oil prices and below-normal monsoon rainfall. Markets will remain closed on Friday on account of Gandhi Jayanti.
After opening lower, the market plunged into the red during the afternoon session before recovering partially in the closing auction. The Nifty-50 ended 198.50 points, or 0.88 per cent, lower at 22,421.95, while the Sensex declined 570.59 points, or 0.79 per cent, to 71,909.70. The Nifty touched an intra-day low of 22,217.30, while the Sensex fell as much as 1,187.41 points to 71,292.88. Broader markets also declined, with the Nifty Midcap index falling 1.01 per cent and the Nifty Small-cap index 0.97 per cent.
“On a weekly basis, Nifty-50 ended down by 3.10 per cent, while the Sensex fell nearly 2,000 points. Almost all major sectoral indices saw profit-booking at higher levels. The Consumer (-6.15 per cent) and Auto (-5.85 per cent) indices lost the most,” said Amol Athawale, VP, Technical Research, Kotak Securities.
Foreign portfolio investors were net sellers of equities worth Rs 9,484.22 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors were net buyers to the tune of Rs 10,041.84 crore.
Investors' notional wealth declined by over Rs 4.89 lakh crore as the BSE market capitalisation fell to Rs 466.96 lakh crore, or USD 4.86 trillion.
Power transmission equipment makers gained after the Union Cabinet approved the Rs 1.86 lakh crore PM DHARA scheme, aimed at evacuating 135 GW of renewable energy. Siemens Energy gained 4.19 per cent, CG Power & Industrial Solutions 2.90 per cent, Hitachi Energy India 2.15 per cent and GE Vernova T&D India 1.24 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT gained 2.17 per cent ahead of the upcoming second-quarter earnings, while BSE Telecom rose 0.52 per cent. All other sectoral indices declined, led by Nifty Auto (-3.56 per cent), Metal (-2.35 per cent), FMCG (-1.61 per cent), Consumer Durables (-1.91 per cent), Realty (-1.46 per cent), Oil & Gas (-1.32 per cent) and Bank (-0.33 per cent).
The NSE India VIX rose 7.04 per cent to 14.44, signalling increased market volatility.
“Indian equities are likely to stay under pressure in the near term as a record global bond rout, renewed strength in crude oil and the heaviest foreign selling in six months weigh on sentiment. The US 10-year Treasury yield has broken past its 2007 peak to 5.3 per cent, the highest since April 2002, with the 30-year at 5.6 per cent. A sustained recovery is unlikely until global yields stabilise, crude eases and foreign outflows moderate,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head-Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
“With crude prices surging, US Treasury yields neared two-decade highs on expectations of further Fed tightening, narrowing the India-US yield differential and weakening the rupee. FIIs stepped up selling through the week, while steady DII buying absorbed much of the outflow, cushioning but not arresting the decline. Broader markets fell as much as frontline indices, while heavy IPO issuance drew liquidity away from listed equities,” said Vinod Nair, Head-Research, Geojit Investments.
