Indian stock markets experienced a downturn on Monday, continuing a losing streak for the fourth consecutive session. This decline was prompted by robust U.S. employment figures, which lessened the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate cut in the coming month.
Additionally, investor caution prevailed in anticipation of key inflation data. Post-market data indicated that consumer price inflation in India dropped to a four-month low of 5.22%.
The BSE Sensex index concluded the day down by 1,048.90 points, or 1.36%, closing at 76,330.01. Meanwhile, the Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange fell 345.55 points, or 1.47%, settling at 23,085.95.
Sectors such as realty, metals, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, public sector banks, oil, and consumer durables faced persistent selling pressure.
Of the Sensex stocks, only Axis Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever, and IndusInd Bank ended in positive territory, with gains ranging between 0.4% and 0.8%.
Conversely, Zomato saw a drop of 6.5%, while Power Grid Corporation, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, NTPC, and Tata Motors recorded losses between 3% and 4.1%.
Other companies like Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharmaceuticals, and L&T experienced declines of 2 to 3%. Additionally, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Titan Industries, Bajaj Finserv, ITC, and Maruti Suzuki lost 1% to 1.8%.
Midcap and smallcap stocks also suffered significant setbacks, driving their respective indices over 4% downward.
The market breadth was notably weak, with 3,562 stocks on the BSE closing in negative territory, while only 555 advanced, and 131 remained unchanged.
On the economic front, the Reserve Bank of India reported a decrease in the country's foreign exchange reserves by $5.7 billion, bringing the total to $634.59 billion for the week ending January 3. The foreign currency assets declined by $6.441 billion to $545.48 billion.
Data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed an improvement in India's industrial production, which rose by 5.2% year-over-year in November, surpassing the 3.7% increase observed in October. Manufacturing output saw a 5.8% annual growth compared to a 4.4% rise in the previous month. Additionally, the growth in mining accelerated to 1.9% from 0.9%, while electricity production increased by 4.4% year-over-year, up from 2% in October.
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