Sensex falls 200 points ahead of RBI MPC outcome; Nifty tests 16,750

Amid weak global cues and nervousness ahead of the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee outcome, Indian equity indices opened lower on Friday.

At 9.19 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 196 points or 0.35 per cent lower at 56,213. Nifty50 was trading at 16,765, down 54 points or 0.32 per cent.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said that the market trend in the US and Europe continues to be bearish. Markets are increasingly discounting the likelihood of a US recession and a sharp slowdown in global growth in 2023.

“India too will be impacted by a sharp global growth slowdown but will be one of the least impacted since domestic growth impulses continue to be strong. Today’s MPC rate action - most likely a 50 bp rate hike - will not impact equity markets since this is already discounted by the market,” Vijayakumar added.

Among Sensex stocks, Tech Mahindra fell 1.56 per cent to Rs 994.75. HDFC, Infosys, HDFC Bank and TCS down 1.32 per cent, 1.22 per cent, 0.98 per cent and 0.78 per cent, respectively. Wipro, ICICI Bank and HUL declined 0.81 per cent, 0.66 per cent and 0.61 per cent, respectively.

Among Sensex stocks, Tech Mahindra fell 1.56 per cent to Rs 994.75. HDFC, Infosys, HDFC Bank and TCS down 1.32 per cent, 1.22 per cent, 0.98 per cent and 0.78 per cent, respectively. Wipro, ICICI Bank and HUL declined 0.81 per cent, 0.66 per cent and 0.61 per cent, respectively.

Sectorally, the Nifty IT fell 0.86 per cent, while Nifty financial services plunged 0.49 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty pharma and Nifty metal opened higher. Nifty Midcap50 and Smallcap50 opened flat.

On Thursday, US market ended lower, Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq surged 1.54 per cent, 2.11 per cent and 2.84 per cent, respectively.

Asian markets were trading lower, China’s Shanghai Composite, Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.21 per cent and 2.05 per cent and 0.20 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, declined 0.12 per cent to 112.11 level.

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