Benchmark stock market indices continued their losing run for the third consecutive day as market sentiments were dampened by the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance.
While the US Fed decided to keep the key rates unchanged, the toughened policy stance has taken a toll on banking, financial services and IT stocks.
At 9:20 am, the Nifty 50 was down 0.4 per cent to 19,816.45 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex slipped by nearly 0.5 per cent to reach 66,503.63 points. Broader market indices saw an improvement from yesterday, but struggled for momentum.
Most major sectoral indices fell in early trade, including Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty IT. Nifty Realty was the only index that gained over 1 per cent.
The top five gainers on the Nifty 50 were Hindalco, UPL , Adani Ports, Dr Reddy and Adani Enterprises. On the other hand, the top losers were HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, TCS, LTIM and Grasim.
Sentiments on domestic markets have been weak ever since the benchmark indices hit record highs, primarily due to profit booking and anticipation over the US Federal Reserve policy decision and stance.
While the US Fed held interest rates steady, it adopted a tougher monetary policy stance to combat inflation.
The Fed’s benchmark overnight interest rate may still be lifted one more time this year to a peak 5.50 per cent-5.75 per cent range, according to updated quarterly projections released by the US central bank.
Deven Mehata, research analyst at Choice Broking, said, “The overall market sentiment hinges on Nifty maintaining levels within the range of 19,800 to 19,950. On the upside, an immediate obstacle is anticipated at 20,000, and a breakthrough beyond this level may pave the way for additional gains in the range of 20,100 to 20,200 points.”
“Given the absence of clear trends in both Nifty and Bank Nifty, it is advisable for market participants to adopt a prudent, stock-specific approach,” he added.