Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply on Wednesday, extending their losing run for the fourth straight session amid weak global cues. The domestic indices were dragged by banks, financial, technology and energy stocks. Strong US economic data kept investors worried that central banks, including the Federal Reserve, would have to keep raising interest rates to tackle inflation.
The 30-share BSE Sensex pack dived 928 points or 1.53 per cent to settle at 59,745; while the broader NSE Nifty index moved 272 points or 1.53 per cent down to close at 17,554. Mid and smallcap shares finished on a weak note, with the Nifty Midcap 100 down 1.13 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 moving 1.14 per cent lower. India VIX jumped 11.27 per cent to 15.59.
Asian stocks were down today after Wall Street recorded its worst one-day slump of the year on Tuesday after US business activity returned to expansion for the first time in eight months in February, fuelling fears of continued high rates.
In addition, worries persist ahead of the release of US Fed’s as well as the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) minutes of policy meetings, due later in the day.
Selling pressure in select index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries (RIL), HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank) and Infosys also dragged the indices lower.
“Resurgence of a cold war between US & Russia has brought apprehension in the market. Although it should be a short-term effect, the fear of sanctions against Russia and its degree of implication on the economy, especially on food and oil exports, is adding to the anxiety. The market is just recovering from the pandemic, and high interest along with inflation are the headwinds in the background,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
The release of Fed and RBI minutes are other major elements that kept investors on the side lines, he further said.
All sectoral indices on NSE settled in the red. Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty IT and Nifty Oil & Gas underperformed the NSE Nifty by falling 1.67 per cent, 1.76 per cent, 1.10 per cent and 1.39 per cent, respectively.
10 listed Adani Group stocks fell sharply today after Wikipedia claimed that sockpuppets – some of them being the online encyclopedia’s employees – created ‘puffery’ around Gautam Adani, his family and the group by adding non-neutral material and removing warnings from the information. The group’s flagship firm, Adani Enterprises, bore the brunt and crashed 10.43 per cent. Adani Ports tanked over 6 per cent.
Among non-Adani Group names, Uflex and Shilpa Medicare declined over 6 per cent, each. RateGain Travel Technologies fell up to 5.78 per cent. Index heavyweights Reliance, HDFC Twins and Infosys and TCS declined up to 2.28 per cent.
On the flip side, IRB Infrastructure Developers, Coffee Day Enterprises, EKI Energy Services, Thermax and Carysil jumped up to 14.77 per cent. Stocks such as Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India, Supreme Petrochem, PB Fintech and PNB Housing climbed up to 3.94 per cent.
Out of a total of 3,606 stocks that traded during the day, 2,525 settled with cuts while 949 others ended higher. The rest 132 stocks stayed unchanged. A total of 16 stocks hit their upper circuit limits on BSE and 5 stocks touched their lower circuit limits.
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