Stock market crash today: BSE Sensex and Nifty50, the Indian equity indices, plunged in trade on Friday due to concerns over high U.S. inflation data impacting Federal Reserve rate cuts. Investors are now focusing on the upcoming domestic earnings season, starting with TCS Q4 results later today.
BSE Sensex dipped over 680 points and Nifty50 slipped to below 22,600. At 1:02 PM, BSE Sensex was trading at 74,471.31, down 567 points or 0.76%. Nifty50 was at 22,588.30, down 166 points or 0.73%.
In the stock market, Sun Pharma, JSW Steel, and Asian Paints saw declines in early trading. On the other hand, NTPC, L&T, and Tata Motors opened with gains.
Shares of Computer Age Management Services (CAMS) surged over 5% after receiving authorization from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an online payment aggregator.
Metropolis Healthcare witnessed an 8% rise in its shares following a 10% year-on-year revenue growth in the March quarter.
Nifty Pharma and Nifty Financial Services experienced declines, along with Nifty FMCG, Metal, Healthcare, and Oil & Gas sectors. On the broader market front, Nifty Smallcap100 rose by 0.46%, while Nifty Midcap100 surged by 0.3%.
Why BSE Sensex & Nifty50 are down today
The U.S. consumer price index rose by 0.4% last month, in line with February, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), leading to a 3.5% year-on-year increase, surpassing Reuters poll estimates. The higher inflation numbers have tempered hopes of early rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve.Experts believe that despite the impact of US inflation on bond yields, the Indian market remains resilient due to domestic liquidity driving the rally. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, stated that investors should capitalize on market dips by investing in high-quality largecaps.
Mandar Bhojane from Choice Broking highlighted that Nifty’s near all-time high level presents a buying opportunity with potential upside momentum towards 23,000.
In global markets, Asian equities were subdued as investors speculated on Federal Reserve interest rate cuts amidst uncertain U.S. inflation outlook. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index faced significant losses.
Amidst rising tensions in the Middle East, oil prices increased due to concerns over potential disruptions in the region’s oil supply.
The Indian rupee depreciated against the US dollar, while the dollar index rose against major world currencies.
Market expectations now suggest a halt in both June and July policy meetings for rate cuts.
Long-term U.S. Treasury yields remained high in Asian trading, close to the recent peak seen in November.
