]
Business: The Indian stock market closed in the red on Thursday. Fresh foreign capital withdrawals and no clarity on future interest rates decision by the US Federal Reserve affected investor sentiment.
Benchmark Sensex and Nifty saw a decline of about one percent. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 84,404.46, down 592.67 points or 0.70 per cent. It fell 684.48 points or 0.80 percent to 84,312.65 during trading. Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 176.05 points or 0.68 percent to 25,877.85. The rupee on Thursday fell 48 paise to close at 88.70 (provisional) against the American currency due to strong US dollar, weak domestic market and aggressive stance of the US Fed.
Condition of Sensex companies
Among the Sensex companies, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Bajaj Finance and Reliance Industries were the major laggards. Whereas, Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Electronics, UltraTech Cement and Maruti were among the gainers.
The effect of Fed’s decisions was seen
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd. said, “As expected, the US Fed cut interest rates by 25 basis points. However, the market strengthened after Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that this could be the last interest rate cut till 2025, which reduced expectations of further monetary easing. The strengthening of the US dollar boosted risk-off sentiment in emerging markets including India.”
Decline seen in European markets
In Asian markets, Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed with losses, while South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices closed in positive territory. European markets were trading with a decline. On Wednesday, American markets closed with mixed sentiments.
Investors showed caution
Ponmudi R, CEO, online trading and wealth tech firm Enrich Money, said, “Markets witnessed widespread selling on Thursday due to uncertainty over future interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve, which weakened global risk sentiment and turned investors cautious. FIIs continued to book profits, while DIIs continued to support selective buying, which helped protect the markets from deeper losses.”
The price of Brent crude fell to $ 64.54 per barrel.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.59 percent to $64.54 a barrel. According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,540.16 crore on Wednesday. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 5,692.81 crore in previous trade. On Wednesday, the Sensex closed 368.97 points or 0.44 per cent higher at 84,997.13. Nifty closed at 26,053.90, up 117.70 points or 0.45 percent.
