BENGALURU: Indian shares fell on Monday as rising US rate concerns after strong jobs data and surge in oil prices due to a military conflict in the Middle East weighed on sentiment.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.41% at 19,572.25 as of 9:50 a.m. IST, and the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.40 to 65,730.25. Barring information technology (IT), all the other 12 major sectoral indexes logged losses.
High weightage banks and oil & gas lost 1% each while public sector banks, metals and media stocks shed over 2% each.
The more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps lost over 1.5% each.
“We find better value in top large-cap stocks and expect them to outperform small- and mid-caps,” analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities wrote in a note.
“The current euphoria in mid- and small-cap stocks may fade over time and the valuations will realign with their fundamentals.”
Asian equities were subdued after the strong US jobs report spurred concerns of a prolonged high interest rate regime.
Oil prices rose following a military conflict in the Middle East where Israel attacked the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
Rise in oil prices is a negative for importers of the commodity, like India.
“Investors should refrain from taking big risks amid the Israel-Hamas conflict,” said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Rate-sensitive sectors lead rise in Indian shares on central bank pause
“If Iran is drawn into the war, it can disrupt oil supplies, causing a spike in crude and triggering a risk-off in the market.”
Among individual stocks, Puravankara lost 4% after income tax department conducted a search at its office and other premises.
Prestige Estates Projects gained 3% after the company said it saw a 102% year-on-year jump in quarterly sales to 70.93 billion rupees.
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