BENGALURU: Indian shares ended in the red for a fifth straight session on Monday, with metals and IT stocks dragging the most, as investor worries ballooned over possibilities of a quicker rate hike from the US Federal Reserve.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index dropped 2.66% to 17,149.1, while the S&P BSE Sensex slid 2.62% to 57,491.51, both marking their worst day since Nov. 26.

The indexes fell as much as 3.5% earlier in the session, before settling at their lowest levels since late December. They shed more than 3% last week amid heavy foreign investor selling.

“With Indian markets closed on Wednesday, investors are likely positioning themselves for a hawkish Fed,” said Amish Shah, head of research, BofA Securities India.

“Higher interest rates would mean the cost of equity assumption for valuing stocks goes up, and it could also lead to outflows from risky assets like emerging market equities to safer US Treasury bonds.”