The Sensex on Wednesday tumbled below a key psychological level as investment sentiments took a hit because of a stream of poor quarterly results and a spike in global crude prices after the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The 30-share Sensex crashed 551 points or 0.83 per cent to close below the 66000-level to settle at 65877.02 as investors offloaded banking and finance stocks.
On the NSE, the broader Nifty 50 declined 140.40 points or 0.71 per cent to finish at 19671.10.
The second quarter results of IT and finance companies have fallen short of expectations, while the festival season sales are not as strong as brokerages have optimistically been projecting.
“Profit booking ensued in Indian markets, spurred by weak global sentiments and escalating West Asia tensions.
“A sudden rise in the tension has led to instability in energy prices. The initial second-quarter earnings have been disappointing,” Vinod Nair, head of research at
Geojit Financial Services, said.
“All these factors are presumed to be a knee-jerk reaction as the total outlook on the domestic market is stable, underpinned by healthy second-quarter result forecast and favourable fiscal position,” he said.
The fresh rise in West Asia tensions led to crude oil benchmark Brent rising to $93 a barrel on Wednesday over the previous close of $89.90. It was trading at $91.20 at the time of writing this report.
Market circles said retail sales in the US for September beat expectations, which showed its resilience and increased the chances for interest rates remaining elevated for a longer period.
The 10-year US treasury jumped to 4.90 per cent over the last finish of nearly 4.85 per cent.
Biocon blow
The shares of Biocon fell over 6 per cent on Wednesday after the company said the US health regulator has classified as “official action indicated” for the manufacturing facility of group firm Biocon Sdn Bhd in Johor, Malaysia.
The stock fell 6.21 per cent to settle at Rs 238.55 on the BSE.
OAI implies the regulator may withhold approval of any pending product applications filed from such facility till the outstanding observations related to non-compliance with manufacturing norms laid down by it.
