BENGALURU: Indian shares ended lower on Tuesday as a surge in wholesale price inflation to 30-year highs stoked fears of more interest rate hikes, offsetting positive cues from global peers.
After swinging between gains and losses for most of the session, the NSE Nifty 50 index ended down 0.3% at 15,732.1. The index had earlier declined as much as 0.7% to its lowest in over 10 months.
The BSE index closed 0.3% lower at 52,693.57.
High global energy and raw material prices combined with a weak rupee fuelled a 15.88% rise in wholesale inflation for May from year ago levels, keeping it in double-digits for a 14th straight month. The figure was India’s highest since September 1991, according to economists.
Retail inflation, meanwhile, eased to 7.04% in May after touching an eight-year high of 7.79% in April. However, an uptick in wholesale food and energy prices is likely to feed into retail prices as the companies increasingly pass on high input costs to consumers.
World shares inched higher and Wall Street was tipped for a stronger open on Tuesday, as US Treasury yields steadied at multi-year highs following the worst selloff in years.
Shares of Bajaj Auto fell 5.1% after the automaker said its board deferred a share buyback proposal, citing the need for “further deliberations”. The stock was the top loser on the Nifty 50 index.
The Nifty finance index fell 0.4%, while the Nifty Bank index was down 0.3%.
Nifty IT index pared early gains to end up 0.1%, with heavyweight Infosys rising 1.1%.
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