By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares extended losses to a third session in a row on Tuesday, led by a slide in information technology stocks on receding bets of early U.S. rate cuts and worries over the conflict in the Middle East.
The NSE Nifty 50 shed 0.56% to close at 22,147.90, while the S&P BSE Sensex settled 0.62% lower at 72,943.68.
Since notching record closing highs on April 10, the benchmarks have lost 2.7% each over the past three sessions, which is also their longest losing streak this year.
Asian markets declined while safe-haven assets like gold and the U.S. dollar garnered investors’ interest after Iran launched explosive drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday. [MKTS/GLOB]
“Investors remain concerned about the possible next steps in Mideast conflict,” said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities.
U.S.-rate sensitive IT stocks dropped 2.58% to a four-month low, the most among the major sectors, after stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales data added to fading expectations of an early Federal Reserve rate cut.
Infosys lost 3.66%, the most on the Nifty 50. It was followed by LTIMindtree, which lost 3.16% after the IT services company said two top-level executives had left.
High-weightage financials fell 0.22%. IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finserv shed 3.18% and 2.31%, respectively, and were also among the top five Nifty losers.
Among the gainers, Jio Financial Services rose 2.13% after it partnered with BlackRock to set up a wealth management and broking business in India.
ONGC gained 1.18% after Jefferies added the stock to its India model portfolio.
The more domestically-focussed small-caps gained 0.75%, while mid-caps closed 0.09% lower.
Indian markets will be closed on Wednesday for a local holiday. Trading will resume on Thursday, April 18.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Savio D’Souza)
