MUMBAI: With crude oil prices showing a rising trend due to increasing hostilities between US and Iran in the Persian Gulf region, and a weakening rupee threatening to hit the 95-to-the-dollar mark soon, sensex on Tuesday lost 555 points to close at 75,577 points. Also, as foreign funds continued to sell Indian stocks, on NSE, Nifty lost 144 points to close at 23,635 points.In the last month, sensex lost nearly 3,000 points or 3.8 per cent as tension in West Asia raised its head again, which in turn pushed up oil prices. During the same period, Nifty lost 949 points or 3.9 per cent.Since Aug 10, foreign investors have net bought Indian stocks worth just Rs 2,953 crore, combined data from NSDL and BSE showed.
How Sensex has fared since August 10.
Nevertheless, in Sept alone, foreign funds have net sold stocks worth about Rs 12,700 crore, reversing the trend of the previous two months. The prevailing situation, meanwhile, continues to put pressure on the rupee, despite a record $136-billion inflow into India through RBI’s special dollar deposit drive from NRIs.According to Ankur Punj, MD, Equirus Wealth, over the past few days, renewed hostility between US and Iran has forced investors to take a low-risk stance towards equity assets.“Mirroring weak global cues, domestic markets extended their losing streak Tuesday amid selling in banking, IT, oil & gas and realty shares. Increasing tension in West Asia triggered a sharp rise in crude oil prices, while depreciation in the local currency against the dollar also dampened the overall market sentiment.”The day’s slide left investors poorer by about Rs 35,000 crore, with BSE’s market capitalisation now at Rs 486.2 lakh crore, official data showed.In Tuesday’s market, among sensex stocks, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries contributed the most to the day’s losses. On the other hand, buying in BEL, Hindustan Unilever and Adani Ports cushioned the fall in sensex to a limited extent.In the forex market, the rupee, after remaining strong for two consecutive sessions, weakened again to close at 94.83 to the dollar, down 34 paise on the day. According to Dilip Parmar of HDFC Securities, the rupee fell amid persistent risk-off sentiment and higher oil prices, as aggressive dollar-buying outstripped liquidity.