Sensex, Nifty struggle for direction as oil, US yields weigh

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty traded on an uncertain footing on Friday as an early recovery lost momentum amid elevated crude oil prices, high US bond yields and selling in IT stocks.

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The BSE Sensex rose to 73,672.98 in early trade before slipping to 73,568.22. The NSE Nifty initially advanced to 23,080.45 but later traded at 23,049.40.

IT stocks under pressure

Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and NTPC were among the laggards. Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid, State Bank of India, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers.

Brent crude eased 0.99 percent to USD 105.50 a barrel, but remained elevated enough to weigh on sentiment.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, said rising US bond yields, surging crude prices and concerns over proposed insurance commission rules had combined to trigger Thursday’s market decline.

Although oil prices had moderated slightly, they remained a concern, he said.

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The US 10-year bond yield, hovering around 5.2 percent, continued to pose a strong headwind for equities globally. For India, persistently high crude prices would remain a major challenge, Vijayakumar added.

Foreign selling continues

Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth a net Rs 5,027.36 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Asian markets were mixed on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded higher, while China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined. US markets had ended mostly lower on Thursday.

In the previous session, the Sensex fell 1.67 percent to close at 73,580.54, while the Nifty declined 1.64 percent to settle at 23,063.10.

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