Sensex falls 390 points; banking, finance stocks weigh

Benchmark BSE Sensex declined by 390 points on Thursday following heavy selling in banking, finance and capital goods stocks due to inflation and growth concerns.

A weak rupee and rising crude prices also impacted the market sentiment, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 390.58 points or 0.68% to settle at 57,235.33. Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty fell 109.25 points or 0.64% to end at 17,014.35.

Wipro was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 7.03%, followed by SBI, L&T, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and HDFC twins.

On the other hand, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s, Reliance Industries and Ultra Tech Cement were among the gainers, rising up to 3.19%.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, “Retail inflation persisting above the desired levels has been a major cause of concern for the Indian economy. This, coupled with declining industrial production in August may not be taken well by the market because Indian economy is anticipated to sustain its resilience.

“In this backdrop, the impending U.S. inflation figures, which are forecasted to remain high, may cause volatility in the global market.” In Asian markets, bourses in Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul closed in the red.

However, stock exchanges in Europe were trading with gains in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude futures increased by 0.31% to $92.74 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the Indian capital market on Wednesday as they sold shares worth ₹542.36 crore, as per exchange data.

The rupee declined by 6 paise to close at 82.39 (provisional) against U.S. dollar.

In twin blows to Indian economic revival, higher food prices drove retail inflation to a five-month high of 7.41%, while factory output fell for the first time in 18 months.

The second consecutive month of rise in consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation will add to the pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to again raise interest rates to tame high prices.