Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, Oct.5: The Sensex fell as much as 172 points on Tuesday, reflecting losses in global markets, as the Nifty 50 index hit an intraday low of 17,640. Following a broad sell-off on Wall Street, Asian stocks fell sharply early Tuesday, as investors worried about the impact of multi-year high oil prices at a time when supply chain disruptions are already exerting pressure on economic activity.
The Sensex was down 101 points at 59,198 at 9:21 a.m., and the Nifty 50 index was down 12 points at 17,679.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside of Japan fell as high as 1.3 percent for the third session in a row. Japan’s equities fell by 2.8 percent, South Korea’s by 2.5 percent, and Australia’s by 1%. MSCI’s main benchmark fell to 619.87, its lowest level since November 2020, as markets fell. This year, it has lost more than 5%, with Hong Kong and Japanese markets among the biggest losses.
The dollar weakened overnight, and a gauge of global equity markets dipped on Monday, as investors fretted about the possibility of fresh US-China trade tensions, stalling congressional negotiations, and increasing inflation as oil prices climbed to multi-year highs.
Back home, eight of the National Stock Exchange’s 15 sector indices were trading lower, topped by the Nifty Information Technology index, which was down 0.43 percent. The Nifty Bank, Financial Services, Public Sector Bank, Private Bank, Pharma, and Healthcare indices all declined 0.2-0.4 percent.
On the other hand, the Oil & Gas index increased by more than 1% as crude oil prices rose.
The Nifty Midcap 100 index gained 0.2 percent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained 0.5 percent, surpassing their larger counterparts.
Cipla was the worst performer in the Nifty 50 basket of stocks, falling roughly 2% to 940. HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Hindalco, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Cun Pharma, Wipro, and Tata Consultancy Services all dropped between 0.8 and 1.2 percent.
On the other hand, ONGC was the highest gainer on the Nifty, rising 5% to 155. Among the gainers were Indian Oil, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, Coal India, UPL, Power Grid, Bharat Petroleum, and Asian Paints.
On the BSE, the overall market breadth was positive, with 1,752 shares increasing and 849 decreasing.
