Indian stock benchmarks ended lower Oct. 21 after erasing early gains, with Kotak Neo citing profit-taking and oil supply concerns as pressures on shares in the crude-importing economy.
The Sensex closed at 73,709.69, a loss of 143.21 points, or 0.19%. The Nifty 50 finished at 22,811.35, down 77.60 points, or 0.34%. Both recovered from deeper losses before the close.
The Nifty rose as high as 23,120.90 before falling to 22,649.90. That 471-point gap between its session high and low amounted to about 2% of the high, far larger than its decline at the close.
Kotak Neo put December Brent crude futures at $110.77 a barrel shortly after Indian stock trading ended. The brokerage cited concern about potential supply disruptions in the Middle East and profit-taking following the early rally. India buys crude from abroad, as shown in import data published by its Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell, so higher oil prices raise import-cost concerns.
The weakness extended beyond the two main indexes. The Nifty Midcap 100 fell 1.58% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 lost 2.37%, according to Kotak Neo. Technology shares moved in the opposite direction: the Nifty IT gained 2.88%.
Livemint cited foreign selling among explanations for the slide during trading. Mehta Equities’ provisional summary after the close instead showed foreign investors bought more Indian shares than they sold in the cash market. Another flow summary also showed net buying, although the two providers reported different amounts.
Both benchmarks had fallen more than 1% in the previous trading session on Oct. 19. Indian equity markets were closed Oct. 20 for Dussehra, making Oct. 21 their first trading session after the holiday.
In comments reported by Livemint, Geojit Investments Chief Investment Strategist V K Vijayakumar said he expected high Brent prices and U.S. bond yields to continue weighing on equities.
