Bank shares fell by 2.3%. (File)
Mumbai:
Indian stocks fell to a five-month low today on a sell-off in financial stocks, as a decline in Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) dampened investor sentiment.
The Nifty 50 fell 1.5% to close at 17,154.30, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.52% to 58,237.85.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, US authorities eased contagion fears and announced plans to limit damage from the SVB collapse.
“The market is back in panic mode,” said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
“It’s more of a fund drain than a bank issue,” James said, adding that banks and more central banks are “on shaky ground” when it comes to rate decisions.
Market rates have fluctuated sharply, with participants now betting on an 80.4% chance of the US Federal Reserve raising rates by 25 basis points (bps) in March instead of a 50 bps hike, while others expect the status quo. [.N]
Indian analysts do not expect the impact of the SVB crisis on the domestic financial system to last long.
Bank stocks fell by 2.3%, while public sector banks fell by 2.9%. Auto companies lost 2.2%.
IndusInd Bank Ltd was the top loser on the Nifty as well among banking stocks, down 7.4%.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the re-appointment of the private lender’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for a shorter period than recommended, analysts said.
On the other hand, Indian IT services provider Tech Mahindra rose nearly 7% after appointing Infosys veteran Mohit Joshi as its new CEO.
Meanwhile, Indian investors are awaiting data on retail inflation, which fell to 6.35% in February, but was above the RBI’s upper limit for the second time in a month, according to a Reuters poll of 43 economists.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published on a syndicated channel.)
Featured image of the day
India and China contribute more than 50 percent to global growth: IMF
