Indian Stock Benchmarks Drop Over 1% on Oil Prices
Indian equity benchmarks closed more than 1% lower on October 19 as high oil prices and private bank declines erased previous weekly gains.
The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex and Nifty 50 closed more than 1% lower on October 19, reversing a strong weekly rally. The Sensex fell 1.17% to 73,852.90, while the Nifty 50 dropped 1.11% to 22,888.95, resulting in an intraday market capitalization loss of 4.67 trillion rupees.
Markets opened flat on Monday morning, with the Sensex at 74,849.30 and the Nifty at 23,150.85. Early resilience was supported by strong banking and IT earnings, though investors remained cautious of Brent crude prices surging to 109 dollars and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. This followed a session on October 16 where Foreign Institutional Investors became net buyers for the first time in 15 sessions, purchasing 1,166 crore rupees in equities.
By the close of trading, 15 of 16 major sectors had declined. Private banks led the sell-off; Axis Bank shares fell 4.19% despite reporting a 38% increase in standalone quarterly profit to 7,003 crore rupees, and HDFC Bank shares dropped 2.31%. Analysts attributed the decline to profit-taking after the strongest weekly rally since April and concerns over narrowing margins in the private banking sector.
