Inflation concerns cast shadow over bourses

3rd Consecutive Fall On Shrinking Liquidity

- Sensex tumbles 433.13 pts to 59,919.69

- Nifty declined by 143.60 pts to 17,873.60

- 24 of Sensex, 41 of Nifty stocks fell

- SBI, ICICI, HDFC twins, Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, PowerGrid and HUL among major losers

- Titan, M&M, RIL and TCS advanced

- Midcap and Smallcap indices fell

Mumbai: Key stock market indices Sensex and Nifty declined for a third straight day on Thursday due to heavy selling in banking, financials and infra stocks following global inflationary concerns and foreign fund outflows.

The equity benchmark Sensex tumbled by 433.13 points or 0.72 per cent to close at 59,919.69 points as 24 of its scrips declined. The index had opened lower and later touched a day's low of 59,656.26 points as banking giants SBI and ICICI Bank and HDFC took a beating.

The 50-issue Nifty of the National Stock Exchange declined by 143.60 points or 0.80 per cent to end at 17,873.60 points. As many as 41 of its stocks declined.

"Global inflationary pressure following upsetting US inflation data forced the domestic market to trade with deep cuts. Rising inflationary pressure along with prospects of an early rate hike can keep the domestic market on edge as such indicators tempt foreign investors to pump out liquidity from emerging markets like India," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

"Weak global cues led by rising CPI in the US spooked markets as fears of the Fed being behind the curve seem to worry the street. Back home most of the sectoral indices traded weak today, but it is interesting to note that even on a weak day the street did reward companies with a positive earnings surprise, a key feature witnessed during the second-quarter earnings season," adds S Ranganathan, head (research) at LKP securities.