Mumbai – Indian stock markets ended sharply lower Thursday, extending their losing streak to four consecutive sessions as rising energy prices, volatile bond yields and concerns over further monetary tightening weighed on investor sentiment.
The Sensex dropped 570.59 points, or 0.79%, to close at 71,909.70, while the Nifty fell 198.50 points, or 0.88%, to settle at 22,421.95.
Market analysts said the Nifty had fallen below its weekly 200-day simple moving average support zone of 22,580–22,600 and approached the critical 22,400 level.
“A failure to defend 22,400 could extend weakness towards 22,200–22,000, while 22,600–22,800 has now become the immediate resistance band,” market watchers said.
Investors remained cautious as higher energy costs and fluctuations in global bond yields fueled concerns about inflation and the future direction of interest rates, triggering widespread selling across sectors.
Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki India and Shriram Finance were among the biggest losers on the Nifty, reflecting weakness in automobile and financial stocks.
Broader markets also declined, with the Nifty MidCap 100 index falling 1.01% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index losing 0.97%.
Automobile, media, metal and fast-moving consumer goods stocks experienced some of the steepest declines. The Nifty Auto, Nifty Media, Nifty Metal and Nifty FMCG indices were among the weakest sectoral performers.
Information technology stocks provided some support, with the Nifty IT index emerging as the session’s top-performing sector.
Analysts suggested that long-term investors could consider gradually accumulating stocks during market declines, while short-term investors may prefer to remain cautious until stronger measures by governments and international institutions help stabilize global financial markets. (Source: IANS)
