Indian shares ended lower on Monday, a fourth consecutive session of losses, with finance stocks such as HDFC Bank and State Bank of India falling over 1 percent each. The benchmark BSE index ended 0.43 percent down at 26,374.70 while the broader NSE index closed 0.43 percent down at 8,104.35. Both indexes fell to their lowest since December 7.
The NSE index saw just over 110 million shares change hands, its thinnest trade since the first day of the year. Asian shares steadied near four-week lows after China agreed to return the US drone it had seized. But with expectations of US President-elect Donald Trump's policies lifting US interest rates and the dollar, shares in many emerging markets are likely to remain vulnerable to possible capital outflows.
"I expect the markets to remain rangebound till the end of January, before the budget is announced," said R.K. Gupta, managing director of Taurus Asset Management. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to present the annual budget for 2017/18 on February 1. "Because of lacklusture trade during the holiday season, foreign buyers are expected to withdraw funds from the market throughout this month," Gupta said. Foreign investors net sold shares worth $114.55 million this month up to December 15. They have net bought $4.04 billion this year up to the same period. Financial stocks fell, dragged down by HDFC Bank which fell as much as 1 percent, and Axis Bank that lost as much 1.1 percent. Oil refiners such as Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp were however up after petrol prices were increased by 2.21 rupees per litre on Friday.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.