BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares fell on Wednesday, led by a decline in tech stocks amid fears of a prolonged high-interest rate regime after data showed U.S. retail inflation remained sticky in January. The Nifty 50 index was down 0.01% at 17,929.50 as of 10:53 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.03% to 61,016.08. Both the indexes fell over 0.4% during the session.
Seven of the 13 major sectoral indexes fell, with fast-moving consumer goods losing over 1%.
The high-weightage IT index fell 0.22% after the data showed that retail inflation in the U.S. rose more than expected in January.
India’s IT firms draw the bulk of their revenue from the United States, where rising interest rates pose risk to businesses.
“The Nifty 50 is likely to consolidate between 17,500 and 18,000 in the near term despite the adverse news flow,” Gaurav Dua, head of capital market strategy at Sharekhan said, adding that a prolonged high-interest rate regime necessitated investors to be more stock specific.
“The recent correction in information technology stocks also provides opportunities for long-term investors as the valuations have turned very attractive,” he said.
The trend reversal in foreign fund flows over the last few sessions is a catalyst for domestic equities, two analysts said.
Over the last three sessions, FIIs bought a net 41.85 billion rupees ($505.05 million) of shares, reversing an earlier selling trend. So far in 2023, they have sold a net 442.51 billion rupees of shares.
Among individual stocks, Eicher Motors jumped 3.84% to a four-year high, and led the Nifty 50 gainers, after reporting a better-than-expected rise in quarterly profit due to higher sales of its Royal Enfield motorcycles.
Adani Enterprises extended gains from the previous session, rising more than 2%, a day after it reported a third-quarter profit against a loss a year ago.
Non-index stock, Torrent Power climbed over 9% after reporting a rise in December quarter profit.
($1 = 82.8625 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Janane Venkatraman)
