MUMBAI– Indian equity markets fell sharply on Monday amid widespread selling as investors remained cautious ahead of this week’s U.S. Federal Reserve policy announcement. Persistent foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows further dampened sentiment.
The Sensex closed at 85,102.69, down 609.68 points or 0.71 percent. The 30-share index opened weaker at 85,624.84 — the same as the previous session’s close — and extended losses throughout the day, hitting an intra-day low of 84,875.59.
The Nifty also declined sharply, ending at 25,960.55, down 225.90 points or 0.86 percent.
“The market experienced a broad-based decline, slipping below the 26,000 mark as investors turned cautious ahead of this week’s U.S. Fed policy decision. Despite robust domestic growth figures and the RBI’s recent rate cut, short-term sentiment remains overshadowed by global monetary policy concerns, persistent FII outflows, and currency depreciation,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
He added that volatility was exacerbated by a spike in Japanese bond yields to multi-year highs, raising fears of an unwinding of the yen carry trade.
Most Sensex components closed in the red, including Trent, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj FinServ, PowerGrid, Asian Paints, Tata Motors PV, Titan, NTPC, Kotak Bank, L&T, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma, Ultratech Cement, ITC, Maruti Suzuki, and Infosys. Tech Mahindra was the only major gainer.
Sectoral indices also saw broad declines. Nifty Financial Services fell 194 points (0.70 percent), Nifty Bank dropped 538 points (0.90 percent), Nifty Auto slipped 342 points (1.23 percent), Nifty FMCG fell 662 points (1.20 percent), and Nifty IT closed 112 points (0.29 percent) lower.
The broader markets mirrored the weakness. Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 456 points or 2.61 percent, Nifty Midcap 100 dropped 1,106 points or 1.83 percent, and Nifty 100 declined 281 points or 1.05 percent.
The rupee weakened further, dropping 13 paise to close at 90.06 against the U.S. dollar. Analysts attributed the decline to sustained FII selling, weak equity markets, and uncertainty over the India–U.S. trade agreement.
With both the Federal Reserve policy outcome and India’s CPI data due this week, analysts expect volatility to remain high. The rupee is projected to trade within a weak range of 89.75–90.30. (Source: IANS)
