US Fed’s hawkish stance takes a big toll on bourses

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex on Thursday plunged about 965 points to crash below the 80,000 level due to heavy selling in global equities after the US Federal Reserve signalled fewer rate cuts next year. Besides, deep losses in consumer durables, banking and IT stocks amid foreign fund outflows added to the gloom, analysts said.

Falling for the fourth day in a row, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex tanked 964.15 points or 1.20 per cent to settle at 79,218.05. During the day, the blue-chip index cracked 1,162.12 points or 1.44 per cent to 79,020.08. As many as 2,315 stocks declined while 1,680 advanced and 100 remained unchanged on the BSE. The NSE Nifty tumbled 247.15 points or 1.02 per cent to sink below the 24,000 mark at 23,951.70. In the past four days, the BSE benchmark tanked 2,915.07 points or 3.54 per cent and the Nifty declined 816.6 points or 3.29 per cent.

“The Indian market saw a widespread decline following a global sell-off driven by the US Fed’s hawkish stance on interest rates. Sectors sensitive to interest rates, such as banking and real estate, significantly bore the brunt. However, the BoJ’s decision to keep its interest rate steady, which surprised economists, aided in reducing the selling pressure. Despite this, investor caution persisted amid ongoing FII selling, with a strategic shift towards defensive sectors like pharma as evidenced by their outperformance,” Vinod Nair, Head (Research), Geojit Financial Services.

The BSE midcap gauge declined 0.30 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.28 per cent.