Stocks extend losses as rupee rout spooks investors; Sensex slumps 179 points, Nifty sheds 82 points

Mumbai: Benchmarks nursed losses for the second straight day today after the rupee collapsed to a lifetime low against the US dollar amid firming crude oil prices, sapping investor confidence. The BSE Sensex slumped 179.47 points to end at 35,037.64, while the broader NSE Nifty shed 82.30 points to 10,589.10. Barring telecom and metal, all other sectoral indices closed in the red. The rupee plunged to a fresh record of 69.10 against the dollar in early trade today, before clawing back lost ground. A weak currency and stubborn global oil prices pose inflationary risks to net energy importers like India. Global oil prices have climbed to about $78 a barrel after the US asked its allies to end all imports of Iranian oil by November. Concerns over supply disruptions in Libya and Canada also pushed prices higher. Participants also offloaded their long bets in futures and options (F&O) segment instead of carrying them forward to the next series for July, brokers said.

The Sensex, which resumed lower at 35,207.19, continued its slide to crack the 35,000-mark and touched a low of 34,937.15 as selling intensified. However, it recovered marginally on value-buying and covering-up of short positions to end at 35,037.64 – down 179.47 points, or 0.51 percent. The gauge had lost 272.93 points in the previous session.

The broader NSE Nifty, after cracking the 10,600-mark, ended 82.30 points, or 0.77 percent, lower at 10,589.10. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 67.44 crore on net basis, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also bought equities to the tune of Rs 84.31 crore yesterday, provisional data showed. “Weak global cues and rising oil price continued to impact domestic market sentiment while rupee declined to all-time low amid concern on inflation and current account deficit. “The mid and small-cap continued to underperform amid tensions in global trade while short-term investors are using every opportunity to book profits due to F&O expiry. Any intervention from RBI to contain the volatility in rupee, and progressing monsoon will provide some respite to domestic market in the near term,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. [caption id=“attachment_4429183” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] ICICI Bank remained the worst performer in the Sensex pack, plunging 2.78 percent, while Tata Motors lost 2.69 percent. Other laggards included Coal India 2.23 percent, RIL 2.13 percent, SBI 1.83 percent, Bajaj Auto 1.82 percent, Maruti Suzuki 1.70 percent, Power Grid 1.70 percent, Yes Bank 1.52 percent, HDFC Ltd 1.47 percent, ONGC 1.34 percent, Hero MotoCorp 1.01 percent and Sun Pharma 1 percent. NTPC was the top performer, spurting 1.79 percent, followed by M&M at 1.78 percent. Infosys and Wipro rose up to 1.01 percent as the weak rupee tempted buyers to accumulate shares of software exporters. However, TCS dipped 0.67 percent. Other gainers were Bharti Airtel 1.64 percent, Kotak Bank 1.01 percent, HDFC Bank 1.01 percent, Tata Steel 0.88 percent and Vedanta 0.11 percent. Sector-wise, the BSE oil and gas index shed 2.51 percent, followed by consumer durables (2.40 percent), realty (2.07 percent), PSU (1.70 percent), infrastructure (1.61 percent), healthcare (1.13 percent), auto (0.77 percent), FMCG (0.75 percent), power (0.72 percent) and banking (0.62 percent). In the broader markets, the mid-cap index fell 1.62 percent and the small-cap gauge shed 1.50 percent. Top oil marketing companies lost further ground, led by HPCL 5.56 percent, BPCL 4.54 percent and IOC 1.28 percent. Brent crude was trading 0.41 percent higher at $77.94 a barrel while WTI oil was up 0.14 percent at $72.86 in Asian trade. In Asia, Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.93 percent and Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.01 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.50 percent. European shares too were trading weak in late morning deals, with Frankfurt’s DAX falling 0.72 percent and Paris CAC declining 0.36 percent. London’s FTSE was also quoting 0.16 percent lower.