Bengaluru, Oct 20 (BNA): Indian stocks were trading lower, pressured by bank shares and bad sentiment in other Asian markets for risky assets as US yields rose on fears that the Federal Reserve will continue its aggressive course to raise interest rates.
The NSE Nifty 50 was down 0.19% at 17,478.50 as of 0446 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.19% at 58996.72, after posting its biggest percentage drop in a week, Reuters reported.
If losses hold, both indicators may achieve four consecutive sessions of gains.
“The market has been in a consolidation zone with 17,000 on the downside and 17,550 on the upside. It is now facing some selling pressure on the higher end of the range,” said Sharekhan’s head of capital market strategy, Gaurav Dua. , referring to Nifty levels.
The Indian rupee fell to a record low for the second day in a row. “Rising US bond yields and the dollar will continue to be a potential headwind for equity markets until US inflation begins to show a moderate trend,” said VK Vijayakumar, senior investment analyst at Geojit Financial Services.
In broader Asia, Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, fell to their lowest level in more than two years, while the yield on US 10-year Treasuries touched a 14-year high.
In Mumbai trading, public sector bank Nifty and private sector bank were the worst performers among the other sub-indices, down 1.27% and 0.92% respectively.
Helping limit some losses, Nifty IT and Fast Moving Consumer Goods rose 0.45% and 0.35%, respectively.
SM