Sensex and Nifty opened in red on Tuesday after sliding to near six-month lows in Monday’s session, with oil prices extending their rise amid continued concerns over Middle East supply disruptions due to the US-Iran conflict.
Brent crude futures rose 1.34 per cent to $106.7 a barrel, affecting sentiments in India for which higher oil prices are detrimental given the import quantity – the world’s third-largest importer of the commodity – as they risk stoking inflation, widening the import bill and squeezing growth and corporate margins.
GIFT Nifty futures were at 22,819.5 points as of 7:51 am, indicating a muted start for the benchmark Nifty 50 index, which closed at 22,780.25 on Monday.
Monday’s Sensex fall
On Monday, Sensex closed over 1,100 points down – at 72,771.72. At around 9:30 am on Tuesday, about 15 minutes after market opening, Sensex stood at 72,267.02, over 504 points or 0.69 per cent lower than the previous close.
NSE Nifty, meanwhile, stood at 22,699.50, down 137.55 points or 0.60 per cent around the same time.
“Global macroeconomic concerns have largely aggravated the pressure on markets, with the surge in Brent crude, persistent foreign selling and elevated US Treasury yields as the key overhangs, spurring risk-off sentiment,” Reuters quoted as saying Ajit Mishra, senior vice president of research at Religare Broking.
Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth 53.53 billion rupees (about $558 million) on Monday, their highest selling in four weeks. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth 51.89 billion rupees, according to provisional exchange data.
Among stocks, Adani group companies were in focus on Tuesday after the market regulator disposed of proceedings against group chairman Gautam Adani and four group companies in a case concerning public-float violations.
The case examined whether Adani companies had complied with the 25% minimum public-shareholding requirement and properly disclosed promoter-linked holdings. The Securities and Exchange Board of India imposed penalties of 2 million rupees each on two individuals in the case for wrongful disclosures.
Tata group companies were also watched after Tata Trusts proposed merging two group companies with Tata Sons to prevent a listing driven by India’s central bank.