The markets are under deep pressure. The Nifty 50 fell 1.1%, or over 250 points, to as much as 23,172.70. While the BSE Sensex plummeted more than 840 points, or 1%, to as low as 76,535.24. The broader market index, Nifty Mifty Midcap 100, was down 1.8%, trading around 56,603.
AMN
Benchmark domestic equity indices today ended lower in line with global markets. The 30-share index at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Sensex, tanked 1049 points, or 1.36 percent, to close at 76,330. Similarly, Nifty-50 at the National Stock Exchange shed 345 points, or 1.47 percent, to settle at 23,086.
The broader market indices at BSE witnessed intense selling pressure. The Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap indices, both plummeted over 4.1 percent each.
Reasons why the markets are falling today…
Global markets trade lower
Asia markets were trading on a lower note on Monday following the fall in the US markets on Friday. The US markets fell after the jobs report dented the hopes of early interest rate cuts by the US Fed. South Korea’s Kospi slumped 1.21% to trade at 2,485. The Asia Dow was trading 1.15% lower at 3,676.11. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.14% to trade at 18,847. On Friday, the S&P 500 closed the session 1.54% lower at 5,827. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 1.63% to close the session at 19,161.63. The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 696.75 points or 1.63% to close at 41,938.45.
High crude oil prices
WTI crude prices were trading at $77.97 up by 1.83%, while Brent crude prices were trading at $81.15 up by 1.74%, on Monday morning. “The sentiment could worsen all through the trading day as crude oil prices have hit over a 3-month high due to US sanctions on Russian oil exports,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President of Research at Mehta Equities. Also, the rise oil in prices was driven by higher demand for energy due to colder weather in the northern hemisphere and expectations of policy support from China, said Mihika Sharma, Associate Economist at CareEdge Ratings.
Continued FII selling
Making the investors’ sentiment jittery, FIIs continued to sell in the Indian equity markets. So far, they have sold Rs 21,357.46 crore in January. During the last three months, FIIs were the net sellers of Rs 1,77,402.49 crore. The experts have added that the primary cause behind the continuous selling by foreign institutional investors is the consistent increase in the dollar index, which is above 109 now.