Indian equity markets fall for third consecutive day on selling in IT, banking stocks

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Wednesday, marking their third straight day of losses due to selling in IT and select banking shares and foreign fund outflows. Falling for a third day, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 159.21 points or 0.27 per cent to settle at 59,567.80. During the day, it fell 274.29 points or 0.45 per cent to 59,452.72.

The broader NSE Nifty dipped 41.40 points or 0.23 per cent to end at 17,618.75.

Among the Sensex firms, HCL Technologies, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Wipro, NTPC, Asian Paints, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India and UltraTech Cement were the major laggards.

Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance and Reliance Industries were among the winners.

In Asian markets, Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower, while Seoul ended in the green.

Equity markets in Europe were trading mostly in negative territory. The US markets had ended mostly lower on Tuesday.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 810.60 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 2.23 per cent to USD 82.88 per barrel.

Rupee falls 18 paise to close at 82.22 against US dollar

The rupee depreciated 18 paise to close at 82.22 (provisional) against the US currency on Wednesday, pressured by a strong greenback overseas and a negative trend in domestic equities. Forex traders said foreign fund outflows and firm crude oil prices also dragged the local unit down.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.10 against the dollar and finally ended the session at 82.22 (provisional), down 18 paise from its previous close.

During the day, the rupee witnessed a high of 82.07 and a low of 82.25 against the greenback.

On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 82.04 against the dollar.

The rupee depreciated on Wednesday on weak domestic equities and a strong US dollar. FII outflows over the past two sessions also weighed on the local unit, said Anuj Choudhary - Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

"We expect the Indian rupee to trade with a negative bias on risk aversion in global markets and a recovery in the greenback. If we see further FII outflows, it may put downside pressure on the rupee. However, softening of crude oil prices may prevent a sharp fall in the domestic currency," Choudhary added.

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