Inflation, rate hike fears taking toll on stock mkts

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices buckled under selling pressure for the fifth straight session on Thursday as a bearish trend in Asian markets and concerns over rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve unnerved investors. Besides, fresh foreign fund outflows also hit investor sentiments, traders said. In a highly volatile trade amid monthly derivatives expiry, the BSE Sensex declined 139.18 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 59,605.80. During the day, it hit a high of 59,960.04 and a low of 59,406.31. The NSE Nifty slipped 43.05 points or 0.25 per cent to end at 17,511.25 points.

"The equity market traded cautiously between gains and losses as the minutes of the central bank policy meeting revealed concerns over high inflation and its commitment to bring inflation under control. In response to the heightened fears of rate hikes, the US 10 yr treasury yield continued to stay high, near four per cent. Additionally, the dollar index rose as the greenback cheered over hawkish Fed comments and rising geopolitical tensions," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

"The benchmark Nifty remained volatile on the last day of February's F&O expiry. During the day, Nifty managed to hold above the morning low of 17,455. Going ahead, the low of 17,455 is likely to act as immediate support for the falling Nifty," Rupak De, senior technical analyst at LKP Securities.

"Nifty fell for the fifth consecutive session, to close at 17,511 points. Nifty ended below its 200 Days EMA for the second consecutive day. Today, Nifty found support at its upward sloping trend line adjoining the lows of September 30, 2022, and February 1, 2023," said Nandish Shah, VP and Senior Derivatives and Technical Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth Rs579.82 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Nifty small-cap and mid-cap indices found support on their previous swing lows on the daily charts and saw some recovery.The advance-decline ratio remained in favour of declining shares for the fourth day in a row and stood at 0.88, Shah added.