Sensex down 161 points; crude rises, rupee falls, investors turn cautious

Indian equity markets snapped a two-day winning streak on May 15 as profit booking, rising crude oil prices and the rupee’s fresh record low weighed on investor sentiment.

The benchmark indices ended lower amid weak global cues and renewed inflation concerns following the recent fuel price hike.

Market highlights

• The BSE Sensex fell 161 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 75,237.99

• The NSE Nifty 50 declined 46 points, or 0.19 percent, to settle at 23,643.50

• Investors lost more than ₹2 lakh-crore in market capitalisation in a single session

• Total BSE market capitalisation fell to ₹460.5 lakh-crore from nearly ₹463 lakh-crore in the previous session

What dragged the market lower

The market came under pressure due to:

• Profit booking after the recent rally

• A sharp rise in crude oil prices

• Continued weakness in the rupee

• Weak global sentiment after US President Donald Trump concluded his China visit without major trade breakthroughs

• Concerns over inflation after the latest fuel price hike

Brent crude climbed above $108 a barrel after surging nearly 3 percent during the session.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee slipped to a fresh record low and closed at 95.94 against the US dollar after briefly falling below the 96 mark.

Sector performance

Selling pressure was broad-based across sectors.

Major losers: Metals, Oil and gas, PSU banks, Realty, Energy and Commodities. All these sectoral indices fell more than 1 percent.

Sectors that gained: IT stocks outperformed, with the BSE IT index rising over 1 percent

Top movers in Sensex

Gainers

• Infosys

• Tech Mahindra

• Power Grid

Losers

• Tata Steel

• Eternal

• Reliance Industries

Midcap and smallcap stocks also weak. Broader markets also ended in the red:

• BSE Midcap index fell 0.48 percent

• BSE Smallcap index declined 0.37 percent

Weekly performance

The benchmarks also ended the week with losses, snapping a two-week winning run.

• Sensex declined 2.7 percent for the week

• Nifty 50 dropped 2.2 percent

Analysts see inflation, rupee concerns

Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments said investors have turned cautious due to rising bond yields, rupee weakness and fuel price hikes, which have revived inflation worries.

He added that strong March quarter earnings and improved valuations are helping limit the downside.

Technical outlook for Nifty 50

Rupak De of LKP Securities said the Nifty is showing a bearish pattern with lower tops on daily charts.

Key levels to watch:

Support levels

• 23,500

• 23,300

• 23,150

Resistance levels

• 23,800

• 23,850

Analysts said a sustained fall below 23,500 could trigger sharper selling pressure in the near term.

(By arrangement with livemint.com)