JOIN USMarkets fall in early trade; Sensex fall over 150 points, Nifty tests 18,600
Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Thursday following weak global markets amid the US Federal Reserve's hawkish stance.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 186.74 points to 62,491.17. The broader NSE Nifty dipped 51.95 points to 18,608.35.
From the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Titan and UltraTech Cement were the major laggards.
IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra and NTPC were among the winners.
The bearishness can be attributed to the US Fed's hawkish comments that indicated it will keep rates higher through next year, said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower.
The US markets had ended in the negative territory on Wednesday.
"Even though the Fed downshifted the rate hike to 50 basis points as expected, the tone of the commentary was unexpectedly hawkish. Globally, equity markets would be watching out for the ECB (European Central Bank) and BoE (Bank of England) decisions today, which are also likely to be 50 basis points hikes.
"The Indian market, though not completely decoupled from the mother market US, has been charting a slightly different path exhibiting surprising resilience even in the face of global weakness. This is due to India’s superior growth and earnings prospects, going forward," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
The BSE benchmark had climbed 144.61 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 62,677.91 on Wednesday. The Nifty had advanced 52.30 points or 0.28 per cent to end at 18,660.30.
International oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.65 per cent to $82.16 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Wednesday as they bought shares worth Rs 372.16 crore, according to exchange data.