Indian indices came slightly down on Thursday, owing to the pull down by heavyweight bank stocks, while the Zee entertainment stocks surged after its top investor ‘Invesco’ put aside its plans to restructure the management.
Investors also assessed the impacts of crude oil, which was trading at close to 120 dollars a barrel amidst the concerns over supply disruptions because of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine which entered its second month.
Due to the surge in crude prices, India is highly vulnerable to rising inflation as it the world’s third-largest importer and consumer of oil. Crude oil price rise has also pushed up the Indian trade deficit and is now hurting the rupee.
“The market now lacks direction and is moving up or down on a regular basis, responding to the news regarding the crude oil price,” said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, reported ET.
The blue chip National Stock Exchange Nifty 50 index fell 0.13 percent to close at 17,222.75, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.15 percent to end at 57,595.68.
India has frozen plans to allow local firms to list overseas, because of the hit to foreign funds and stock exchanges, reported Reuters on Wednesday.
Companies such as education platform BYJU’S and Flipkart, which boast of strong backing from reputed private equity investors, are reportedly considering overseas listing.
In Mumbai, equities fell by around 0.9 percent in the first hour, but fueled by gains in metal stocks, later on gaining on some losses to trade flat.
The Nifty Bank Index lost 1.32 percent and was the biggest drag to the main index. Private-sector lenders Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank ended among the top percentage losers on the Nifty 50.
Nonetheless, overall losses were in control as investors bought into defensive information technology and pharmaceutical stocks.
The Nifty IT index and the Nifty Pharma Index gained 1.2 percent and 1.14 percent, respectively.
Breaking the four-day losing streak, Paytm marked bounce back and closed 9.6 percent higher. The company had lost almost 23 percent last week amid rising regulatory issues.
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