Sensex falls over 630 points, Nifty slips below 23,250 as oil stays above $100

New Delhi: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty fell sharply in early trade on Thursday as crude oil prices remained above USD 100 a barrel, while selling in banking and NBFC stocks and weak global cues weighed on sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 632.68 points to 74,189.55, while the NSE Nifty declined 216.15 points to 23,222.55.

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Bajaj Finance led the losses among Sensex stocks, falling 4.75 percent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, which shed 3.49 percent. Axis Bank, InterGlobe Aviation, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank were also among the major laggards.

Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank and Tata Consultancy Services bucked the trend to trade higher.

Brent crude eased 0.90 percent to USD 102.2 a barrel but remained above the USD 100 mark, keeping concerns over elevated energy prices in focus.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, said Brent above USD 102 and the US 10-year bond yield at 5.11 percent would weigh on equities, limiting the prospects of a strong recovery.

He added that investors would closely watch the National Stock Exchange’s market debut on Thursday. NSE’s Rs 22,569 crore initial public offering received an overall subscription of 5.71 times.

Asian markets were mixed, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 trading higher, while China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined. US markets closed lower on Wednesday.

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Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, said renewed uncertainty over the US-Iran diplomatic process had pushed crude prices higher. Rising US Treasury yields could also trigger profit-taking following the market’s recent gains, he added.

Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,617.45 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

In the previous session, the Sensex gained 299.17 points, or 0.40 percent, to close at 74,828.25. The Nifty rose 117.80 points, or 0.50 percent, to settle at 23,446.80.

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