By Rama Venkat
BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares settled at one-week lows on Tuesday, with declines led by metal and IT stocks, as risk-averse trades took hold of financial markets globally on worries about economic growth as well as geopolitical concerns.
Forty-seven of the 50 stocks on the NSE Nifty 50 index closed lower, pulling the benchmark index down 1.49% to 16,983.55, while the 30-member S&P BSE Sensex eased off a one-week low to finish 1.46% lower at 57,147.32.
Both indexes have been trading between their respective 50- and 100-day moving averages in the 11 sessions since Sept. 26.
“The Indian market, despite weak global cues, has sustained at 17,000 levels and it has broadly been in a range of 17,000 to 17,500, which is healthy, as domestic fund inflows have been strong and there is a buying interest seen at lower levels,” said Gaurav Dua, head of capital market strategy at Sharekhan, referring to the Nifty levels.
Domestic investors bought net 21.37 billion Indian rupees (about $260 million) worth of equities on Monday, while foreign institutional investors sold net 21.39 billion rupees worth of stocks, as per provisional data available with the National Stock Exchange.
Global stocks, meanwhile, headed back towards their lowest levels in almost two years, on worries over an escalation in the Ukraine war, China stepping up pandemic measures and rapidly rising interest rates.
The next global marker for rates will be on Thursday with the release of U.S. inflation data, which could set the stage for another big hike from the Federal Reserve in November.
Meanwhile, data due after market hours on Wednesday is expected to show that India’s retail inflation accelerated to a five-month high of 7.30% in September due to surging food prices.
“We have seen the worst of inflation getting over, so I don’t see much of a domestic inflation scare as of now,” said Samrat Dasgupta, chief executive officer of Esquire Capital Investment Advisors.
In stocks, the Nifty’s metal, IT and realty sectors were among the worst performers, sliding between 2% and 3%.
IT firm Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, which kicked off domestic earnings season on Monday, closed 1.6% lower after it warned of some softness in long-term deal decision making.
Other IT majors such as Infosys Ltd and Wipro Ltd are due to report their results later this week. ($1 = 82.3030 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)
