Sensex, Nifty Extend Losses To 2nd Straight Day As Growth Worries Weigh

(RTTNews) - Indian stock indices Sensex and the Nifty closed notably lower for a second straight session, as stocks tumbled on Friday amid rising concerns about global economic slowdown after major central banks raised interest rates and signaled further policy tightening in the coming months.

The Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, and the Swiss National Bank, have all raised their interest rates, and most of these central banks have said further increases are likely as inflation remains at elevated levels.

The Sensex ended with a loss of 461.22 points or 0.75% at 61,337.81, while the broader Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange closed lower by 145.90 points or 0.79% at 18,269.00. Both Sensex and the Nifty settled near the day's lows.

Among the major losers in the Sensex, Dr Reddy's Laboratories dropped 3.62%, while Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Tata Consultancy Services and State Bank of India lost 1.98 to 2.44%.

Titan, Power Grid Corporation, NTPC, Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement, HCL Technologies, Maruti Suzuki, Infosys and ITC ended lower by 1 to 1.6%.

Wipro ended notably lower despite an announcement from the company that it has signed a five year multi-million dollar agreement with Mazda Motor Logistics Europe to deliver managed services for its entire application landscape.

Adani Ports, down 2.8%, was the biggest loser in the Nifty. BPCL drifted down 2.3%, while Bajaj Auto, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, Grasim Industries, Coal India, Hero Motocorp, SBI Life, Divi's Laboratories and Adani Enterprises closed lower by 1 to 2%.

Tata Motors climbed nearly 1.5%. HDFC Bank gained about 0.5%. Nestle ended 0.2% up. Hind Unilever added 0.3%.

Despite opening on a firm note, index heavyweight Reliance Industries slipped and ended with a marginal loss. On Thursday, RIL's FMCG arm Reliance Consumer Products launched its indigenous made-for-India consumer packaged goods brand, Independence, in Gujarat.

The market breadth was weak. On BSE, 2,120 stocks ended weak, while 1,414 stocks moved higher, and 128 stocks settled flat.

On the economic front, data released by the government showed India's merchandise exports stood at $31.99 billion in November, up 0.59% from $31.8 billion a month earlier. In October, exports had dropped 16.7% on year.

Imports surged to $55.88 billion in November as against $53 billion in the same month last year. India's merchandise trade deficit dropped to $23.89 billion last month from $26.91 billion in October.