Benchmark indices snapped their four-day winning run on Thursday following a decline in the overseas markets after minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s recent meeting suggested an earlier-than-expected rise in interest rates. Bond yields rose, touching a fresh two-year high during the day.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose sharply on escalating unrest in Opec+ oil producer Kazakhstan and supply outages in Libya. Brent crude futures rose $1.33, or 1.7%, to $82.13 a barrel during the day.
Investors have turned more cautious after the sudden spike in the daily Covid cases and restrictions imposed in several parts of the country, analysts said. India recorded more than 90,000 new Covid cases on Wednesday.
Sensex fell up to 933 points in the day’s trade, while the Nifty slipped below 17,700 during the day. At close, Sensex was down 621.31 points or 1.03% at 59,601.84 — with only seven advances in the 30-share gauge. The Nifty-50 ended lower by 179.35 points or 1% at 17,745.90.
Market watchers also said weak global conditions prompted selling at higher levels. Technically, after an intra-day sharp fall, the market found support near 17650/59300 levels and reversed but failed to cross the 17800/59800 resistance levels which is broadly negative.
Sector-wise, major sectoral indices ended in the red with the Nifty IT and realty counters shedding over 1% each on Thursday. On the other hand, Nifty Auto and PSU bank witnessed buying interest during the day. The broader markets, however, recovered in the afternoon deals and ended flat. The BSE mid-cap was down 0.05%, whereas the BSE small-cap index closed up 0.01%. The overall market breadth remained positive as nearly 1,981 shares advanced on the BSE, and 1,401 ended in the red.
Tech Mahindra was the top Sensex loser, down 2.5%, followed by UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech and the HDFC twins. In contrast, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel and Maruti Suzuki added over 1% each in an otherwise volatile session on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the rupee fell 4 paise to 74.42 against the dollar, tracking hawkish minutes from the US federal reserve.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets ended with mixed figures following weakness in the US markets overnight. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.8% on Thursday, whereas China’s Shanghai Composite ended lower by 0.2%. The Hang Seng, however, ended higher 0.7%.
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