Indian shares traded sharply lower on Friday, tracking weak global cues as persistent concerns over inflation and interest rate hikes by central banks across the world weighed on the sentiment across financial markets. The reimposition of lockdowns in some parts of Shanghai added to supply-chain woes.
The 30-scrip BSE Sensex index plunged as much as 1,025.3 points or 1.9 percent to 54,295 and the broader NSE Nifty50 benchmark slid to as low as 16,191.4, down 286.8 points or 1.7 percent from its previous close.
By 1:50 pm, the sharp sell-off wiped out more than Rs 2.8 lakh crore of investors' wealth, as the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies came down to Rs 252.1 lakh crore, from almost Rs 255 lakh crore the previous day.
Here are the top five factors that are dragging the headline indices lower:
Sustained FII outflows
: Selling of Indian shares by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) continues unabated. Net sales stood at $23 billion so far this year, according to provisional exchange data.
"I am surprised by the sheer quantum of FII selling. They own about 20 percent of the market so there is room to sell more. If nothing changes then the current pace of selling from foreign investors may continue,"
Raamdeo Agrawal, Chairman and Co-Founder of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, told CNBC-TV18.
Higher crude oil rates: Despite a dip on Thursday, benchmark
crude oil rates are not far off their 13-week highs hit the previous day. Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures still quote above $120 a barrel each. High crude prices hurt markets such as India, which meets the lion's share of its oil demand through imports.
According to Goldman Sachs, oil rates could surge to as high as $140 a barrel this summer amid persisting supply concerns. Oil prices have already jumped around 50 percent so far this year in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Aggressive rate hikes: Investors around the globe await a key inflation reading from the US due later in the day to assess the course of policy action by the Fed and other major central banks, which have lined up aggressive rate hikes in a bid to control surging consumer prices without damaging the pace of economic growth. The
ECB will up interest rates by 25 basis points in July —its first rate hike since 2011. The central bank will also stop bond purchases on July 1 and signals another rate hike in September.
Overheated valuations: Many experts have warned of expensive equity valuations in India over the past few months. Besides valuations, experts —from
Credit Suisse's Suresh Tantia to
Bernstein's Rupal Agarwal — have talked about stagflation and earnings downgrades among the key risks to growth.
COVID-19: Shanghai and Beijing are placed on new COVID-19 alerts. The the cities imposed further lockdown restrictions on Thursday and announced a fresh round of mass testing for millions of their residents. India reported a total of 7,584 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of domestic COVID-19 cases to 4,32,05,106, according to data from the Health Ministry.
