Sensex slides 335 pts on rate fears, foreign investor selloff; Nifty below 17,800

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex declined 335 points or 0.55% to settle at 60,507. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 89 points or 0.50% to end at 17,765.

From the Sensex pack,

and were the top losers, falling over 2%. Infosys, , M&M, , , and Reliance also ended with losses.

On the other hand,

, , , and closed with gains.

Sector-wise, the Nifty Metal fell 2.2% and Nifty IT declined 0.61%. However, PSU banks, media, pharma, realty, healthcare, consumer durables and FMCG stocks closed higher. In the broader market, Nifty Midcap50 increased 0.74% and Smallcap50 surged 0.62%.

“A strong job market in the United States pushed the global market lower on rate hike fears, as it offers the Fed more leeway in enacting stricter policy measures. This was in contrast with the recent rally in the global indices on the expectation that the economy is in its last phase of policy tightening,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

RBI’s policy announcement on Wednesday will add more colour to its future rate actions, which is expected to hike rate by 25bps, Nair said.Global Markets
Global stock markets and Wall Street futures sank Monday after strong US jobs data fanned fears of more interest rate hikes to cool inflation.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.8% to 3,237.69 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo advanced 0.7% to 27,693.65. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 2% to 21,222.16.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 1% to 7,827. The DAX in Frankfurt shed 1.1% to 15,303 and the CAC 40 in Paris tumbled 1.4% to 7,129.

Currency Watch
The rupee plunged against the dollar on Monday, marking its biggest daily decline in over four months, as an upbeat US jobs report fanned fears of more rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, prompting analysts to reassess the prospect of more rate cuts this year.

The rupee fell about 1% to 82.72 per dollar, its biggest percentage fall since September 22.

Crude Impact
Oil prices rose on Monday after falling 8% last week to more than three-week lows as concerns that slower growth in major economies may limit fuel consumption outweighed signs of a demand recovery in China, the world’s top oil importer.

Brent crude futures rose 0.75% to $80.53 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 0.5% higher to $73.75.

(With inputs from agencies)