Sensex extends losing run to 7th session, ends 176 pts lower; Nifty below 17,400

Indian benchmark indices began the week on a dull note, extending losses from the past week amid weak global trends. The benchmark Sensex lost 175 points or 0.30% at 59,288, while Nifty 50 pack fell 0.42% to close below 17,400. Fresh foreign fund outflows and weak trend in IT counters also dented investor sentiments.

The Nifty IT index fell 1.95%. In the sensex pack, Tata Steel and Infosys were among top losers, falling over 2%, while Tata Motors and TCS lost close to 2%. Meanwhile, financials defied the bearish trend in markets, with ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and SBI among top gainers during the day.

"Bears continued to wreak havoc in the domestic market as the latest data releases from the US heightened the existing worries of aggressive rate hikes. The personal consumption expenditure in the US, which is Fed’s key monitorable of inflation, increased in January, pressuring investors to stay away from equities markets," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader markets, Nifty smallcap 100 lost 1.12%, while Nifty midcap 100 ended down 0.69%. Sectorally, six indexes declined, with media and metal stocks bleeding the most, following IT auto and pharma.

Global Markets
Global markets rose on Monday, with the MSCI All-World index of global shares rising 0.1%, having posted its largest weekly decline last week since late September.

European stocks bounced back, thanks to gains across typically rate-sensitive sectors such oil and gas and technology.

The STOXX 600, which last week lost 1.4%, was up 1%. In the Asia-Pacific region, shares largely fell tracking the Wall Street fall last Friday. In Australia, S&P/ASX200 closed 1.12% lower, while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.11%. China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.28%, and South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.87%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.33%.

Oil rises
Oil prices edged up in volatile trade on Monday, as Russia halted exports to Poland via a key pipeline ahead of a hefty supply cut announced for March, but a stronger dollar and fears of recession capped gains. West Texas Intermediate US crude futures (WTI) traded at $76.68 a barrel, 36 cents, or 0.5% higher, while Brent crude futures were up 34 cents, or 0.4%, at $83.50 a barrel at 0950 GMT.

Rupee falls
The Indian rupee declined against the dollar on Monday, as Asian currencies fell on the prospect of the US Federal Reserve hiking interest rates further and for longer. The rupee finished at 82.8350 per dollar, against its previous close of 82.75.