Global sell-off hits bourses

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks began the week on a downbeat note on Monday, weighed by heavy selling in market heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) and persisting weakness in global bourses. The rupee plunged to its lifetime low against the US dollar amid unabated foreign fund outflows, underscoring the risk-off sentiment prevailing globally as central banks embark on policy tightening to tame soaring inflation.

Slipping for the second straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex shed 364.91 points or 0.67 per cent to close at 54,470.67. During the day, it tanked over 900 points to 53,918.02. Similarly, the NSE Nifty tumbled 109.40 points or 0.67 per cent to end at 16,301.85.

"The market continued its downward rally amid lingering concerns over weakening rupee, global interest rate hikes and tightening lockdowns in China. The relentless rise in the US dollar index owing to interest rate hikes and rising US treasury yield hammered investor's risk appetite. Strong US jobs data indicated possibilities of faster rate hikes forcing investors to opt for safe-haven assets," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

"Benchmark indices ended the day's session on a negative note. Asian stocks declined on investor worries that a tightening Covid lockdown in Shanghai could hit global economic growth," said Mohit Nigam, head (PMS), Hem Securities.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling spree, offloading shares worth a net Rs 5,517.08 crore on Friday, according to stock exchange data.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge declined 1.67 per cent and the midcap index dipped 1.89 per cent. As many as 2,416 stocks declined, 1,052 advanced and 146 remained unchanged. Most BSE sectoral indices ended lower, with power falling 2.47 per cent, followed by utilities (2.46 per cent), energy (2.27 per cent), oil and gas (2.03 per cent) and metal (1.98 per cent). Only telecom, teck and IT ended with gains.