Indian shares end muted on Mideast uncertainty
- Nifty 50 fell 0.16% to settle at 24,395.85 points and the BSE Sensex added 0.15% to 78,079.96
Indian shares settled little changed on Thursday, as stalled Middle East peace efforts offset the impact of easing U.S. rate-hike worries and upbeat earnings.
Still-elevated crude prices also hurt sentiment on concerns over fiscal and current account balances as well as growth and inflation in Asia’s third-largest economy.
Iran and the U.S. remained at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a senior Iranian source, who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June. Brent crude futures traded around $88 per barrel.
India’s Nifty 50 fell 0.16% to settle at 24,395.85 points and the BSE Sensex added 0.15% to 78,079.96.
The indexes were down 0.34% and 0.13% before the closing auction kicked in, with the 30-stock benchmarks demonstrating volatility on weekly expiry of derivatives.
“Elevated crude oil prices and weekly Sensex expiry-related positioning kept investors cautious despite a supportive global backdrop due to easing rate hike fears after U.S. inflation reading,” said Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, founder & CEO of HST Wealth.
Heavyweight financials and banks fell 0.4% each on concerns over potential margin hit from the Reserve Bank of India’s proposed loan-pricing rules.
Investec said draft rules would curb banks’ pricing flexibility, exposing loan yields and margins to volatile funding costs and quicker resets, clouding banks’ near-term earnings visibility.
Tata Group shares steadied after losing $4.6 billion on Wednesday, as investors assessed N. Chandrasekaran’s decision not to seek another term as Tata Sons chairman.
A panel will recommend the next chairman of India’s largest conglomerate, the charitable arm that controls the group said on Thursday.
Ten of the 16 major sectors declined. The broader small-caps and mid-caps rose 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
Bucking the trend, Tata Motors jumped 3.9% after reporting higher quarterly profit and forecasting firm demand.