BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian stocks ended lower on Thursday, breaking a three-day rally dragged down by metals and financials as rising US bond yields sapped investor appetite for equities in the world.
The NSE Nifty 50 index closed down 1.08% to 15,080.75, while the S&P BSE Sensex index was down 1.16% to 50,846.08.
“Today’s decision is in line with global markets triggered by rising yields (of US bonds) and we are seeing some correction,” said Anita Gandhi, director of Arihant Capital Markets in Mumbai.
The MSCI Global Equity Index slipped 0.5% as concerns over rising U.S. bond yields sparked another market rout after the turmoil in global equity markets last week.
Indian stocks had recovered from the previous week’s selling earlier this week, thanks to positive news about the country’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign and optimistic domestic economic growth data.
However, 12 of the 14 major nifty sub-indices ended Thursday’s session in the red.
The Nifty Metal Index slipped the most, closing 2.13% lower, erasing some of the big gains seen earlier this week. However, it is up more than 22% this year.
Private sector lenders HDFC Bank and Housing Development Finance Corp were the main drag on Nifty, losing 2.2% and 2.7% respectively.
The private sector banks index ended a three-day rally, closing down 1.27%. Still, the index is up 3.4% this week.
However, the Nifty Media Index closed 1.6% higher, led by a 4.18% gain in movie theater operator Inox Leisure, while peer PVR added 3.71%.
The Nifty’s Smallcap100 and Midcap 50 indices extended their gains to close at 1.17% and 0.49%, respectively. Both have gained around 20% each so far this year, outperforming the benchmark.
Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Edited by Ramakrishnan M.