Sensex, Nifty extend losses on Covid, inflation worries

By Reuters: Indian shares extended fall for a third straight session on Thursday, with broad-based declines, after the Reserve Bank of India’s latest monetary policy minutes revealed strong concerns about inflation, while fears of a COVID resurgence weighed on sentiment.

The Nifty 50 index.NSEI closed 0.39% lower at 18,127.35, and the S&P BSE Sensex.BSESN fell 0.39% to 60,826.22. This is the lowest close for both the benchmarks since Nov. 10. Both Nifty and Sensex had gained over 0.6% in the opening minutes.

All the sector indexes declined, with auto. NIFTY AUTO, metal.NIFTYMET, PSU banks.NIFTY PSU and realty.NIFTYREAL losing over 1% each.

Forty-one of the Nifty 50 constituents fell with UPL UPLL.NS, Mahindra and Mahindra MAHM.NS, Bajaj FinServ BJFS.NS, Eicher Motors EICH.NS and IndusInd Bank INBK.NS lost over 2%.

The broad decline in Indian shares comes after the country’s health minister on Wednesday said the pandemic was “not over yet,” given “the rising cases of COVID-19 in some countries.”

“Healthcare, diagnostics, and all pharma-linked stocks will be in focus over the next few days due to the re-emergence of COVID-19 cases in China, which has led to worries elsewhere,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research at Mumbai-based Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Risk-off sentiment will continue to prevail in the market, he added.

Adding to the concerns in the domestic equities were the RBI’s hawkish remarks at its December policy meeting.

Source: Indiatoday

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