India's Nifty logs longest losing streak in 11 months on higher crude, Treasury yields

Indian shares fell on Wednesday, with high crude oil prices and rising global bond yields weighing on appetite for risk assets globally.

The Nifty 50 index has fallen for seven straight sessions, its longest losing streak in 11 months, dropping 2.1% over the period. The BSE Sensex dropped in six out of seven sessions, dipping 2.1%.

On the day, the Nifty 50 slid 0.32% to 24,078.30 and the Sensex lost 0.42% to 76,909.68.

“Risk appetite in Indian market appears to have weakened considerably with Nifty witnessing sustained, gradual selling pressure,” said Sudeep Shah, head of technical and derivatives research at SBI Securities.

“The primary factor weighing on investor sentiment has been the sharp surge in crude oil prices as the geopolitical situation in West Asia continues to show little sign of easing.”

Brent crude rose to a three-week high, hovering around $92 a barrel after U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that no talks were underway with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz remained open.

His comments contradicted Iran’s claim that the vital waterway was closed to shipping, dimming hopes for a deal to end the nearly six-months long Middle East conflict.

Meanwhile, long-term borrowing costs in the US, Germany and Japan hit multi-decade highs, weakening emerging-market equities’ appeal as higher risk-free returns attract capital to developed-market bonds.

Fourteen of the 16 major sectors logged losses. The broader small-caps and mid-caps dipped 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively.

High weightage financials shed 0.4%, dragged by 0.7% and 0.6% drop in ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

IT index rose 0.7% after dropping 4% in the last three sessions.

Bucking the broader trend, Indraprastha Gas, Mahanagar Gas gained 1.7% and 1.5% on the government’s incentives to city gas distributors to boost domestic connections of piped cooking gas.

Temasek-backed e-commerce logistics services firm Shiprocket jumped about 48% in debut trade.