Sensex, Nifty Extending Losses To 4th Straight Day

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are down in negative territory Monday morning, weighed down by concerns the Federal Reserve will likely hold interest rates at current levels for longer after data showed a much bigger than expected increase in U.S. non-farm payroll employment in the month of December.

Investors, digesting India's industrial production data, are quite cautious ahead of India's consumer price inflation data, due after trading hours today. Higher crude oil prices are weighing as well.

The BSE benchmark Sensex, which dropped by over 800 points in early trade, was down 575.51 points or 0.74% at 76,803.40 a little while ago. The broader Nifty50 index of the National Stock Exchange, which fell t 23,195.40, recovered to 23,232.80 but still remained notably lower, losing 198.70 or 0.85%.

Several stocks from automobile, realty, pharmaceuticals, oil, metal, FMCG, consumer durables and banking sectors are reeling under selling pressure.

Zomato, down more than 4%, is the biggest loser in the Sensex. Tata Steel, Adani Ports, Asian Paints, M&M, Power Grid Corporation, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Tech Mahindra are down 1.5 to 2.3%.

Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, ITC, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank are lower by 1 to 1.4%.

IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank are gaining 1.8% and 1.6%, respectively. Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys are modestly higher.

Trent, the biggest loser in the Nifty50 index, is down 4.7%. Adani Enterprises, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, BPCL, Grasim Industries, Eicher Motors, Wipro, ONGC, Tech Mahindra, BEL, HeroMotoCorp, Cipla and Bajaj Auto are also notably lower.

Data released by the Reserve Bank of India on Friday showed India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $5.7 billion to $634.59 billion for the week ended January 3. Foreign currency assets decreased by $6.441 billion to $545.48 billion, the data released on Friday showed.

Data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed that India's industrial production rose 5.2% year-over-year in November, faster than the 3.7% gain in October. The expected increase was 4%.

Manufacturing output grew 5.8% annually versus a 4.4% rise in October. Similarly, the growth in mining quickened to 1.9% from 0.9%, while electricity production rose 4.4% from last year compared to 2% in October.

The annual inflation rate in India eased to 5.48% in November of 2024 from 6.21% in the previous month, and remaining near the limit for the central bank's limit of 2 percentage points away from 4%.