The benchmark BSE Sensex fell nearly 340 points to close below 58,000 on Tuesday, its fourth consecutive day of losses, as auto, IT, and financial stocks wilted amid concerns about the fallout from the failure of two US-based banks.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 337.66 points, or 0.58 percent, to 57,900.19, a new five-month low. It reached a high of 58,490.98 and a low of 57,721.16 during the session.
The broader NSE Nifty fell 111 points, or 0.65%, to a five-month low of 17,043.30, with 38 of its scrips falling.
According to analysts, market sentiment has been impacted by persistent foreign capital outflows, investors abandoning riskier assets, and the rupee weakened against the US dollar.
M&M was the Sensex pack’s biggest loser, falling nearly 3%, followed by TCS, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, Kotak Bank, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, and Tata Motors.
Titan, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, and L&T, on the other hand, were among the gainers, rising to 0.93 percent.
The BSE smallcap index fell 0.84 percent and the midcap index fell 0.46 percent in the broader market.
“Markets are dancing to global beats, and we’ll see how markets react to US inflation in early trade on Wednesday. After the recent slide, indications point to a short-term pause, but the upside appears to be limited as well “According to Ajit Mishra, VP – of Technical Research at Religare Broking Ltd.
Following mass withdrawals of customer deposits from these regional banks, US regulators closed Signature Bank on March 12, just two days after closing Silicon Valley Bank.
Moody’s said on Tuesday that most Asian financial institutions are not exposed to failed US banks and are not as vulnerable to large losses from debt security holdings as Silicon Valley Bank was.
Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Seoul all suffered significant losses in Asian markets.
However, European equity markets were trading in the afternoon on a mixed note. Wall Street’s major indices finished lower overnight.
Meanwhile, the rupee fell 26 paise against the US dollar on Tuesday, closing at 82.49.
Brent crude fell 1.56 percent to USD 79.51 per barrel, the international oil benchmark.
According to exchange data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,546.86 crore on Monday.
Meanwhile, wholesale price-based inflation fell to a two-year low of 3.85 percent in January due to lower prices for manufactured goods, fuel, and electricity, even though food prices remained high.
Retail inflation fell marginally to 6.44 percent in February, owing primarily to a slight decrease in food and fuel prices, but it remained above the Reserve Bank’s comfort level of 6% for the second month in a row.
