Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Thursday finished in the red, extending their previous day's decline amid a negative trend in global equity markets after the US Fed hiked interest rates by 75 basis points.
The BSE Sensex declined 70 points (0.11 per cent) to settle at 60,836. During the day, it tanked 421 points (0.69 per cent) to 60,485. On the other hand, the broader NSE Nifty dipped 30 points (0.17 per cent) to end at 18,052.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid, NTPC, Infosys, Wipro, HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services, and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major laggards. On the flip side, State Bank of India, Titan, Bharti Airtel, and Hindustan Unilever were among the winners.
Among individual stocks, M&M Financial Services surged 13.5 per cent despite 55 per cent YoY fall in net profit to Rs 492 crore in Q2FY23.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended marginally higher. The overall breadth too was slightly positive, with nearly 1,800 shares advancing versus 1,670-odd declining stocks on the BSE.
Sectorwise, the BSE IT and Power indices slipped over a per cent each. The Auto index was the other notable loser.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended lower. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading in the negative territory in mid-session deals. Wall Street had ended significantly lower on Wednesday.
"Fed’s refusal to tone down the rate hike narrative shattered the global markets as investors were in expectation of a dovish commentary. Powell cautioned that the desired Fed rate level is higher than expected, even though he indicated a rate hike of less than 75 bps in the upcoming meetings. On the back of concerns about the US recession, IT stocks led the domestic selloff, while FII support helped limit the losses," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.16 per cent lower at $95.04 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Wednesday as they bought shares worth Rs 1,436.30 crore, as per exchange data.
Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 8 paise to 82.88 against the US dollar in morning trade on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates and maintained a hawkish stance. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.87 against the dollar, then lost further ground to quote at 82.88, registering a loss of 8 paise over its previous close.
On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 82.80 against the American currency.