BENGALURU: Indian shares fell on Monday, pulled down by automobile and consumer stocks, and as broader investor sentiment soured after a strong U.S. jobs report triggered fears the Federal Reserve would persist with aggressive rate hikes.
The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.43% to 17,241 at close, and the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.34% to 57,991.11. Earlier in the day, both the indexes declined over 1.4% to register their sharpest intraday drop in two weeks.
“Continued high inflation and its impact on growth and interest rates will keep investors on tenterhooks as far as external factors are concerned,” said Rahul Shah, co-head of research at Equitymaster.
Globally, shares fell on Monday after a series of explosions in the Ukrainian capital and renewed concern about the economic outlook, drove investors away from risky assets.
Providing some boost to the benchmark index, Nifty IT index rose 1.06%. IT service provider Tata Consultancy Services, set to kick off domestic earnings season after market close, ended 1.8% higher.
“Quarterly results will be keenly watched and barring a couple of sectors, India Inc is expected to put up a below par show on the back of rising energy costs and lower realisations,” Shah said.
Tata Motors Ltd and Tata Consumer Products Ltd were the top losers on the Nifty 50, declining 3.9% and 3%, respectively.
Tata Motors fell as much as 4.6% after wholesale volumes of Jaguar Land Rover business fell below expectations, prompting top brokerages to cut price targets.
Jaiprakash Associates closed 10.3% higher after a media report said Adani Group was in advanced talks to buy the infrastructure company’s cement business for $606 million.
Meanwhile, a Reuters poll found India’s retail inflation accelerated to a five-month high of 7.30% in September due to surging food prices. The data is due after market hours on Wednesday.
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