The Indian equity benchmarks fell on Thursday after US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 basis points and reiterated that more rate hikes are on cards to rein in spiralling inflation. The Sensex fell as much as 624 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday low of 17,532. The rupee also fell to record low of 80.95 per dollar as the greenback surged to its highest level in two decades after rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The Sensex fell 337 points to close at 59,120 and Nifty 50 index dropped 89 points to settle at 17,630.
The Federal Reserve made another big interest rate hike and sharply increased its outlook for how high it expects to raise rates in coming months.
Short-term Treasury yields pushed further into multiyear highs after the central bank raised its benchmark rate by three-quarters of a point. The Fed also said it now expects that rate to be a full percentage point higher by the end of the year than it had predicted in June.
“We have got to get inflation behind us,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during a press conference. “I wish there were a painless way to do that. There isn’t.”
Back home, forex traders said the strength of the American currency in the overseas market, a muted trend in domestic equities, risk-off moods and firm crude oil prices weighed on the rupee which closed at record low.
On the National Stock Exchange, eight of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty Private Bank index's 1.4 per cent fall. Nifty PSU Bank, Financial Services and Bank indices also fell over 1 per cent each.
On the other hand, auto, IT, pharma and FMCG shares witnessed buying interest.
Mid- and small-cap outperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.34 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.6 per cent.
Power Grid was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 3 per cent to Rs 220. HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC, ONGC, Coal India, SBI Life, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Shree Cements also fell between 1.2-2.1 per cent.
On the flipside, Titan, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Maruti Suzuki, Adani Ports, Eicher Motors, Britannia Industries and ITC were among the gainers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,835 shares ended higher while 1,610 closed lower on the BSE.
