Indian shares fell on Monday as prospects of aggressive rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve and surging inflation hit risk appetite globally, while Future Group companies tumbled after Reliance Industries called off a deal to buy its retail assets.
The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was down 0.76% at 17,041.65, as of 0448 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) fell 0.65% to 56,815.46. Both indexes shed as much as 1.4% early on Monday.
India’s benchmark indexes have lost more than 2% so far in April, hurt by weak earnings from top technology firms, fears about the Ukraine crisis’ fallout, sky-high inflation, and strong policy tightening signals from the Fed.
On Monday, broader Asian stocks also lost ground, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) falling 1.6% to a six-week low.
In domestic trade, all major Nifty sub-indexes were down. Realty (.NIFTYREAL) and metal (.NIFTYMET) stocks led losses, falling more than 3% each.
Nifty’s volatility index (.NIFVIX), which indicates the degree of volatility traders expect over the next 30 days, was up 8.7%.
Future Group companies slid — Future Retail (FRTL.NS) dropped 5%, Future Consumer (FTRE.NS) crashed 19.4%, while Future Enterprises (FURE.NS) declined 9.5%.
Conglomerate Reliance (RELI.NS) called off its $3.4 billion deal with Future Group on Saturday, saying it “cannot be implemented” after Future’s secured creditors rejected it.
Meanwhile, Nifty’s fast-moving consumer goods sub-index (.NIFTYFMCG) fell 2.3%, after Godrej Consumer Products (GOCP.NS) dropped 5%.
Indonesia banned palm oil exports on Friday in a shock move that could worsen surging global food inflation. India is a major buyer of palm oil.
While the duration of the ban is unknown, the unorganized sector may face severe constraints, but given the already tough demand environment, listed players face earnings risks on-demand and margins, Jefferies said in a note.
Among the few gainers, ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS) added 1.5% after its March-quarter net profit rose.
Source By: Reuters