As many as 26 stocks in the Sensex pack traded in the red in the early trade. With a fall of 3.53 per cent, Wipro emerged as the biggest loser in the pack 
As many as 26 stocks in the Sensex pack traded in the red in the early trade. With a fall of 3.53 per cent, Wipro emerged as the biggest loser in the pack 
Benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty declined over 1 per cent in Friday’s early trade following weak global cues. The 30-share Sensex traded over 700 points down at 54576 at around 9.38 am (IST). On the other hand, the 50-share Nifty index was down 214 points at 16,263 at around the same time. Market watcher believes that soaring inflation, recession fears, and the prospect of the Federal Reserve getting even more hawkish are making investors nervous worldwide.
As many as 26 stocks in the Sensex pack traded in the red in the early trade. With a fall of 3.53 per cent, Wipro emerged as the biggest loser in the pack. It was followed by Bajaj Finance (down 3.29 per cent), Tata Steel (down 2.75 per cent) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 2.84 per cent). Tech Mahindra, HDFC, Infosys and Bajaj Finserv were also down somewhere between 1.50 per cent and 2.50 per cent.
V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, “Strengthening of the US 10-year bond yield to 3.05 per cent can be interpreted as the market discounting worse-than-expected inflation data in the US on Friday. If inflation data turns out to be worse than expected, equity markets will turn bearish. If it doesn't, markets will stage a rebound next week.”
Here's a look at factors which dragged the benchmark indices in trade today.
Weak global cues: The US markets ended lower on Thursday as investors anticipated incoming data to show unabated high levels of consumer prices in May. Asian markets traded mostly in red on Friday after rate hike guidance from the ECB unnerved investors waiting for key inflation data from the US.
Lingering inflation woes: Traders will be concerned amid reports that external affairs minister S Jaishankar said the Russia-Ukraine war has thrown up a crisis of fuel, food and fertiliser that will lead to hunger situations and have a very significant inflationary impact. At present, retail inflation is at a 95-month high due to a surge in prices across all major commodity groups.
Widening Current Account Deficit? Sentiment also took a hit with India Ratings’ report suggested that the country’s current account deficit is likely to hit a three-year high of 1.8 per cent or $43.81 billion in FY22, as against a surplus of 0.9 per cent or $23.91 billion in FY21.
Selling by FIIs: Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) continued to be net sellers in the domestic equity market, offloading Rs 2,407 crore from stocks on Thursday. Overall, they have sold shares worth Rs 1.80 lakh crore on a year-to-date basis in 2022.
Falling rupee: The rupee depreciated 8 paise to a record low of 77.82 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, tracking the strength of the greenback in the overseas market.
Jateen Trivedi, VP research analyst, LKP Securities said, “Crude above $120 per barrel in WTI is now a concern for all the markets and nations, especially the ones that are net importers like India. Crude prices above $125 per barrel will unsettle the broad markets and volatility will increase along with fund outflows from domestic markets hence pressure on the rupee will increase if crude starts trading and settling above $125 per barrel. Rupee can be seen in a range of 77.55-77.95 till then."
Covid cases: Adding to the pessimism, India's daily Covid-19 cases rose further, with government data released on Thursday showing daily cases rose 7,240 in the last 24 hours, the highest since March 2.
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