Stocks extend slide as Fed rate plan looms
The Hindu
Sensex slumps 2.6% as metals, IT lead
Stocks extended their slide for a fifth straight session on Monday, with the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex tumbling 1,545.67 points, or 2.6%, as growing concern about the pace of anticipated interest rate increases by the U.S. Federal Reserve spurred overseas investors to unwind positions in the Indian equities market.
Metal and IT stocks led the sell-off with top Sensex losers including Tata Steel (5.98%), Wipro (5.35%) and Tech Mahindra (5.14%). Reliance Industries fell 4.1%.
“Sell-off in global markets, weak Q3 results and pre-budget nervousness triggered heavy sell-off in the domestic bourses as risk sentiment took a blow ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting starting tomorrow,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. “Investors are keenly awaiting the result of the two-day Fed meeting where the U.S. central bank is expected to provide more guidance on its rate hike plans. While all sectors hit rough weather, stocks of the new age tech companies were the most affected due to drop in growth of profitability amid expensive valuations,” he added.