NSE & BSE fall in early trade amid weak global trends

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Thursday following weak global markets amid the US Federal Reserve's hawkish stance. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 186.74 points to 62,491.17. The broader NSE Nifty dipped by 51.95 points to end at 18,608.35.

The BSE benchmark had climbed by 144.61 points or 0.23 percent to settle at 62,677.91 on December 14. The Nifty had advanced by 52.30 points or 0.28 percent to end at 18,660.30. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers on December 14 as they bought shares worth Rs 372.16 crore, according to exchange data.

Position of stocks listed in BSE

From the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Titan and UltraTech Cement were the major laggards.

IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra and NTPC were among the winners.

Performance of markets worldwide

In Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower.

The US markets had ended in the negative territory on December 14.

International oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.65 percent to USD 82.16 per barrel.

The bearishness can be attributed to the US Fed's hawkish comments that indicated it will keep rates higher through next year, said Prashanth Tapse, Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

"Even though the Fed downshifted the rate hike to 50 basis points as expected, the tone of the commentary was unexpectedly hawkish. Globally, equity markets would be watching out for the ECB (European Central Bank) and BoE (Bank of England) decisions today, which are also likely to be 50 basis points hikes," he added.

"The Indian market, though not completely decoupled from the mother market US, has been charting a slightly different path exhibiting surprising resilience even in the face of global weakness. This is due to India's superior growth and earnings prospects, going forward," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

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