Emerging as the worst performers in Asia, the benchmark Indian equity indices extended their losses for the fourth consecutive session on Monday amid weak global cues and heightened geopolitical uncertainty.
The Sensex declined 508.40 points, or 0.68%, to settle at 74,267.34, while the Nifty lost 165.15 points, or 0.70%, to close at 23,382.60.
In contrast, South Korea (up 3.68%) and Taiwan (up 1.35%) were among the top gainers in Asia, driven by strength in AI-related technology stocks. Markets in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand remained closed for a holiday.
Over the past four trading sessions, the Sensex and Nifty have fallen 2.90% and 2.70%, respectively.
Investors suffered a notional wealth loss of Rs 4.28 lakh crore on Monday, taking cumulative losses over the past four sessions to nearly Rs 8 lakh crore.
Macro Headwinds
Ajit Mishra, SVP – Research, Religare Broking, said investor sentiment remained under pressure due to persistent foreign institutional selling following the MSCI rebalancing-related outflows witnessed last week.
Rising crude oil prices, with Brent crude climbing above the $93-per-barrel mark amid renewed geopolitical concerns over the US-Iran conflict, further weighed on sentiment, reviving worries over inflation and India’s current account deficit, Mishra added.
Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said Indian equities are expected to remain range-bound with a marginal negative bias in the near term amid persistent foreign institutional investor selling and ongoing uncertainty surrounding global macroeconomic developments.
Market breadth remained negative, with 2,764 losers against 1,590 gainers on the BSE.
The broader indices underperformed the benchmarks, with the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap declining 1.25% and 0.89%, respectively.
Sectoral Breakdown
Sectoral participation was largely negative, with FMCG, realty, and auto emerging as the top losers. In contrast, IT and metal stocks displayed relative strength, helping limit the overall decline.
HUL, ITC, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top Sensex laggards, falling by up to 2.83%. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, TCS, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo), and HCL Tech were the top Sensex gainers, advancing by up to 3.80%.
Meanwhile, textile stocks rallied after the government announced a temporary removal of customs duty on cotton imports.
The government said the exemption will come into effect on Monday and remain in force until October 31 to augment the availability of raw material for the textile sector.
Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 3,911.68 crore ($411.8 million), while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 5,109.13 crore, according to provisional BSE data.
