file. , Photo credit: The Hindu
Benchmark BSE Sensex closed nearly 340 points below the 58,000-level on March 14, marking the fourth day of losses as auto, IT and financial stocks fell on concerns amid fallout from the two US banks’ failure. I.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 337.66 points, or 0.58%, to close at a five-month low of 57,900.19. It touched a high of 58,490.98 and a low of 57,721.16 during the day.
The broader NSE Nifty declined 111 points, or 0.65%, to close at a five-month low of 17,043.30, with 38 stocks ending in the red.
Analysts said persistent foreign fund outflows, abandonment of riskier assets by investors and weakness in the rupee against the US dollar weighed on market sentiment.
M&M was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, shedding nearly 3%, followed by TCS, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, Kotak Bank, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Tata Motors.
In contrast, Titan, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and L&T were rising up to 0.93%.
In the broader market, the BSE Smallcap gauge fell 0.84% and the Midcap index fell 0.46%.
“Markets are dancing to global tunes and we will see US inflation reaction in early trade on Wednesday. Signs are in favor of some relief after the recent fall but the upside is also capped,” Ajit Mishra, VP – Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
On March 12, US regulators shut down Signature Bank, two days after shutting down Silicon Valley Bank, following massive withdrawals of customer deposits from these regional banks.
Most Asia Pacific financial institutions are not exposed to failed US banks and are not as susceptible to large losses from debt security holdings as was Silicon Valley Bank, Moody’s said on Tuesday.
In Asian markets, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul closed with heavy losses.
However, European stock markets were mixed in afternoon trade. Wall Street’s major indices closed down in overnight trading.
Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 26 paise to close at 82.49 against the US dollar on Tuesday.
International oil benchmark Brent crude fell 1.56% to $79.51 a barrel.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,546.86 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, inflation based on wholesale prices eased to a two-year low of 3.85% in January on lower prices of manufactured goods, fuel and electricity, though food articles remained costlier.
Retail inflation eased marginally to 6.44% in February, mainly due to a marginal reduction in prices of food and fuel articles, though it remained above the Reserve Bank’s comfortable level of 6% for the second month in a row.