Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, April 18: The Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply in early trade on Monday, following weak global market trends. The continued Russia-Ukraine situation, as well as growing inflation, weighed on stock futures in the United States. Investors were also jittery due to a rise in crude oil prices.
Trends on the Singapore Exchange’s Nifty Futures (SGX Nifty) also pointed to a gap-down start for the domestic indices during earnings season.
On tighter global supply fears, Brent futures jumped $1.50, or 1.3 percent, to $113.20 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 98 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $107.93 a barrel.
In India, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 1,260 points, or 2.16 percent, to 57,078, while the broader NSE Nifty down 330 points, or 1.89 percent, to 17,144 at 10.25 a.m.
Mid- and small-cap stocks were down 1.47 percent and 1.36 percent, respectively, on the Nifty Midcap 100.
On a stock-by-stock basis, Infosys was the biggest loser, with the stock falling 6% to 1,643.55. Among the losers were Tech Mahindra, the HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank), and Tech Mahindra.
On the BSE, the total market breadth was negative, with 1,018 shares advancing and 1,846 decreasing.
Infosys, TechM, HDFC twins, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and TCS were among the biggest laggards on the 30-share BSE index.
NTPC, Tata Steel, M&M, Maruti, PowerGrid, and Hindustan Unilever, on the other hand, were trading in the green. Tata Steel’s stock jumped 1.44 percent after its board of directors declared on May 3 that it will explore a proposal to split the company’s equity.
On Wednesday, the Sensex fell 237 points, or 0.41 percent, to close at 58,339, while the Nifty fell 55 points, or 0.31 percent, to 17,476. After a four-day hiatus, the indices resumed today.
