MUMBAI: Spiking crude oil prices and escalation of geopolitical tensions in West Asia spooked investors on Dalal Street on Wednesday and the subsequent selling pulled the sensex down by 551 points to 65,877.
Banking & financial stocks, along with index heavyweight Reliance Industries, contributed majorly to the day’s slide, BSE data showed. According to Shrikant Chouhan, head of research (retail), Kotak Securities, geopolitical tensions due to the Israel-Hamas war spooked Indian markets as investors turned risk-off on Wednesday. “The market is more concerned about surging crude oil prices as this could hurt inflation and may lead to interest rates remaining higher in the near to medium term,” he said.
Strong selling by foreign funds is another factor that’s weighing on investors’ sentiment. After taking out nearly Rs 14,800 crore net from Indian stocks in September, foreign portfolio investors have net sold equities worth more than Rs 10,000 crore so far this month, data from CDSL and BSE showed. This is the second consecutive month of net foreign fund outflow after six consecutive months of net inflows.
In Wednesday’s market, HDFC Bank, RIL, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance contributed the most to the sensex’s fall while Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and Maruti cushioned the slide to a limited extent, BSE data showed.
Banking & financial stocks, along with index heavyweight Reliance Industries, contributed majorly to the day’s slide, BSE data showed. According to Shrikant Chouhan, head of research (retail), Kotak Securities, geopolitical tensions due to the Israel-Hamas war spooked Indian markets as investors turned risk-off on Wednesday. “The market is more concerned about surging crude oil prices as this could hurt inflation and may lead to interest rates remaining higher in the near to medium term,” he said.
Strong selling by foreign funds is another factor that’s weighing on investors’ sentiment. After taking out nearly Rs 14,800 crore net from Indian stocks in September, foreign portfolio investors have net sold equities worth more than Rs 10,000 crore so far this month, data from CDSL and BSE showed. This is the second consecutive month of net foreign fund outflow after six consecutive months of net inflows.
In Wednesday’s market, HDFC Bank, RIL, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance contributed the most to the sensex’s fall while Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and Maruti cushioned the slide to a limited extent, BSE data showed.