Mumbai: India's equity indices fell over 1% on Monday, snapping a two-day winning streak, as investor sentiment mirrored the uncertainty prevailing across the rest of Asia. Large private sector banks led the decline after their September-quarter earnings failed to enthuse investors.
The Sensex lost 876.38 points, or 1.2%, to end at 73,852.90, while the Nifty 50 fell 257.20 points, or 1.1%, to close at 22,888.95. Indian financial markets will be closed on Tuesday for Dussehra.
"Today's decline reflects profit-booking following the previous week's recovery. Investors remain cautious because of oil prices and the quarterly earnings announcements," said Gaurav Garg, head of research at brokerage Lemonn. Last week, both indices rose around 2.8%.
Across Asia, markets were mixed, with South Korea rebounding 1.8% from last week's losses amid simmering concerns over excessive investments in artificial intelligence (AI). Taiwan fell 0.6%, while Indonesia tumbled 3.6% following a warning from index provider MSCI that it would downgrade the country from the emerging market basket.
At home, the Volatility Index or VIX, the street's fear measure, climbed 4.5% to 14.7, reflecting uncertainty over market prospects in the near term.
Most sectoral indices ended in the red, with the Nifty Private Bank index shedding 1.8%. Axis Bank was the biggest Nifty loser, falling 4.19%, HDFC Bank declined 2.3%, and ICICI shed 1.1%. While the second-quarter results of HDFC and Axis were short of expectations, ICICI's earnings beat estimates. IT stocks, which were last week's top performers, erased a portion of the gains, with the Nifty IT index declining 1.2%. Bucking the overall weak trend, the Nifty PSU Bank index gained 2.5%.
Brent crude futures fell 1.5% to $108.18 following US President Donald Trump's executive order on Friday lifting sanctions on Russian energy.
Yet, the news failed to bring cheer among investors as oil prices remained too high for comfort.
"Persistent geopolitical tensions in West Asia and elevated crude oil prices continue to weigh on investor confidence, keeping concerns over inflation, India's import bill and corporate profitability in focus," said Garg.
Among broader markets, the Nifty Midcap 150 index fell 1.09%, and the Nifty Smallcap 250 index declined 1.15%. On the BSE, 3,153 of the 4,658 stocks traded declined, while 1,283 advanced. Money managers said broader corporate earnings growth has been strong but is yet to be reflected in market sentiment.
