On Thursday, the stock markets started on a negative note as the BSE Sensex was trading 486.70 points, or 1.35 percent, lower at 35,488.93 while the Nifty 50 was down 156.75 points at 10,701.50.
28 out of 30 Sensex stocks started today’s morning session in the red. Maruti, ICICI Bank, Reliance, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra and Yes Bank were the prominent losers in the 30-share Sensex pack. The main laggards on Nifty pack were Eicher Motors, Reliance, BPCL, Bajaj Finance and Bharti Airtel.
As Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) statement on monetary policy is due this week, investors are also cautioned. Analysts widely expect the central bank to hike the repo rate – the key interest rate at which the RBI lends short-term funds to commercial banks – by 0.25 per cent. Meanwhile, the RBI has said it would pump Rs 36,000 crore into money markets in October this year.
On the other side, oil prices have also reached four-year peaks as the global market focused on upcoming US sanctions on Iran while shrugging off the year’s largest weekly build in US crude stockpiles. Brent eased 18 cents to $86.11 a barrel, while US crude fell 16 cents to $76.25.
On Wednesday also, stock markets shed over 150 points in the early trade, while Nifty fell below the 11,000-mark.
Also Read: Stock Market: Sensex and Nifty fell over 150 and 50 points respectively