Over 200 stocks hit new 52-week low on BSE as oil prices, weak rupee, fear of rate hike weigh

Benchmark indices continued to reel under selling pressure with the Sensex falling 656 points to 35,319 on the back of crude oil prices hitting multi-year highs and rupee touching record lows.

The 50-share NSE Nifty slipped 200 points or 1.82 percent to 10,657. All sectoral indices traded in the red barring metals and infra. Sectorally, BSE Energy index, oil & gas, IT, finance, and auto stocks saw selling pressure while capital goods and metals bucked the trend and were trading in positive terrain.

The rupee collapsed to a fresh low of 73.77 against the US dollar, as global oil prices continued to rise, deepening concerns about the current account deficit and capital outflows. Consistent dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, following higher crude oil prices, kept the rupee under pressure.

Laurence Balanco of CLSA said with the daily momentum indicator having confirmed the recent low, any relief rally from here is likely to be short-lived. He sees further weakness and a probable break below the 200-DMA and move down to next support at the 9,960-10,000 area.

“The precarious positioning of international macros simply not letting the pressure- off the market. The last-man-standing industries such as large-cap autos and IT have also started melting, almost leaving no place for markets to hide,” Jagannadham Thunuguntla, Sr. VP and Head of Research (Wealth), Centrum Broking Limited told Moneycontrol.

Fears of a rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday also dented the market sentiment. The central bank is likely to raise the policy repo rate by 25 bps from 6.5 percent to 6.75 percent in its upcoming monetary policy review on October 5. It will have to balance multiple objectives in the current meeting. While inflation has been decelerating in the past two months, some upside risks still abound, suggest experts.

As many as 220 stocks have hit new 52-week low on the BSE including  Diligent Media Corporation which dipped 12.4 percent followed by Bombay Dyeing (down 4.98 percent), 8K Miles Soft (5 percent), JBF Industries (4.84 percent) and Eicher Motors which was down 4.8 percent intraday Thursday.

Some of the other stocks which hit new 52-week low included J Kumar Infra which shed 4.73 percent, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company down 4.35 percent, CG Consumer Electricals which shed 4.34 percent and KEC International which was down 4 percent in this morning session.

Hero MotoCorp is lower by 3.6 percent and Emami shed 3.19 percent. eClerx Services, Manpasand Beverages, Oberoi Realty, Godrej Industries, Central Bank of India and Greenply Industries are the other names which have recorded fresh 52-week low price.