Unabated sell-off in markets on inflation fears

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty slid for a seventh straight session on Monday, logging their longest losing run in the past five months, following a bearish trend in global markets amid concerns over aggressive rate hikes by developed economies.

The BSE Sensex declined by 175.58 points or 0.30 per cent to close at a month's low of 59,288.35 with 17 of its shares posting losses. During the day, it tanked 526.29 points or 0.88 per cent to 58,937.64. The NSE Nifty fell 73.10 points or 0.42 per cent to end at a four-month low of 17,392.70 as 33 of its stocks ended in the red. In seven days, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 10,36,307.34 crore to Rs 2,57,94,678.26 crore, leaving investors poorer by Rs9.25 lakh cr

"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 (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

"Pressure in IT, metal and auto majors kept the tone negative, but resilience in the banking pack capped the damage. The pressure in banking and financial majors was weighing on the sentiment during the initial phase of correction and now it's cascading to the other sectors as well. Besides, the fall in the US markets is adding to the pessimism," said Ajit Mishra, V-P (technical research), Religare Broking Ltd.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 1,470.34 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Foreign investors have turned cautious and pulled out Rs2,313 crore from Indian equities so far this month.

A fresh fall in the broader indices further deteriorated the sentiment.

The BSE smallcap gauge fell 1.28 per cent and midcap index declined 0.69 per cent. Among the sectoral indices, teck declined 2 per cent, IT fell 1.96 per cent, commodities by 1.75 per cent, metal by 1.39 per cent, consumer discretionary by 0.95 per cent and capital goods by 0.95 per cent. Financial services, bankex and realty were the gainers.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Wipro and Bajaj Finance were the biggest laggards. Power Grid, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, South Korea, Japan, China and Hong Kong ended lower. Equity markets in Europe were trading in the green. The US markets had ended sharply down on Friday. International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.35 per cent to $83.41 per barrel.

Nifty Ends Below 17,400pts

- BSE Sensex decline by 175.58 pts to 59,288.35

- 17 of Sensex-30 stocks in losses

- NSE Nifty fell 73.10 pts or 0.42% to 17,392.70

- 33 of Nifty-50 stocks ended in the red

- Nifty shed 643 pts or 4.1% in 7 sessions