Indian shares fell on Tuesday, dragged by auto and energy stocks and tracking a dip in their Asian peers on concerns about elevated U.S. interest rates.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.78% at 19,484.70, as of 10:03 a.m. IST, and the S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.71% to 65,354.89.
Eicher Motors shed over 4%, the most on the blue-chip Nifty 50, after its motorcycle sales fell 4% in September.
Wall Street equities were subdued after hawkish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr reignited worries of a prolonged high interest rate regime. Asian markets edged lower.
“The risk aversion in the U.S. due to rate concerns and China due to concerns over economic recovery has weighed on sentiment,” said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president, research, SMC Global Securities.
“While a correction in small- and mid-caps cannot be ruled out due to frothiness in select pockets, the benchmark Nifty 50 is likely to consolidate in a narrow range and close the year near 20,000 levels.”
Analysts said bearish foreign investors also added to the pressure on domestic equities.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) snapped a six-month buying streak, offloading shares worth 147.68 billion rupees in September, according to official data.
FPIs have also been net sellers in each of the last nine sessions.
Among individual stocks, Vedanta gained over 3% after the Indian miner’s announced a split into six separate businesses.
ONGC lost 3.7% and dragged the energy index 1% lower. The stock had gained 2.5% over the last two sessions.