Sensex falls over 370 points, Nifty settles below 24,000 amid West Asia tensions, higher oil prices

MUMBAI: Indian equity benchmark indices ended in negative territory on Wednesday, extending their losing streak to the third session of the month, with the Sensex falling over 370 points and the Nifty settling below the psychological 24,000-mark amid elevated geopolitical tensions in West Asia and rising crude oil prices.

The Sensex ended lower at 76,570.35, down 373.93 points or 0.49 per cent, while the Nifty settled at 23,914.45, down 141.35 points or 0.59 per cent. Sectorally, Nifty Auto was the worst performer, falling over 1 per cent, followed by IT. All broad-market indices also ended in the red.

On the BSE, Adani Ports, Power Grid, NTPC, Titan, ITC, Reliance, Trent, Bajaj Finance and LT were among the top gainers, while Infosys, M&M, Tech Mahindra, SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Eternal, IndiGo and Tata Steel were among the top drags.

Likewise, on the NSE, Coal India, NTPC, Adani Ports, Power Grid, TMPV, Reliance, ITC, LT, ONGC and Titan were among the top gainers, while Eicher Motors, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Eternal, Kotak Bank, Grasim, Axis Bank, Trent, Cipla, Hindalco, IndiGo, Hindustan Unilever, SBI Life, BEL and HCL Tech were among the top drags.

In the commodity market, Brent crude was trading at around USD 94.87 per barrel, while crude oil was trading at around USD 90.37 per barrel at the time of reporting.

According to market analyst Vipin Dixena, Wednesday’s movement was more significant than a routine profit-booking session as the rise in crude prices is emerging as a macro risk for India. “Higher oil prices can put pressure on the rupee, inflation and bond yields, while simultaneously reducing the possibility of further monetary easing. The fact that the selling extended across sectors shows that today’s risk-off move was not restricted to a particular pocket of the market,” Dixena said.

“From a technical perspective, Nifty has slipped below the 24,000 mark which weakens the near-term structure. The 23,800-23,750 zone becomes an important support area from here. A sustained break below this zone could open the door for further downside, while any recovery towards 24,000-24,100 would now face immediate supply,” he noted.

Kunal Saraogi, trader/investor and market commentator, said the case for investing in India is becoming more interesting as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) appear to be turning more supportive after sustained selling in recent years.

“Well, think definitely the case for investing in India is now becoming more interesting. I think FIIs were continuously selling relentlessly. They sold all through the last couple of years. But I think that’s beginning to change. We have seen positive numbers for FII. We’ve also seen due to MSA rebalancing also lot of funds are coming into India,” Saraogi said. “So I think going forward, FIIs will continue to be bullish on the markets,” he added. (ANI)