Mumbai: India’s main index fell for a second consecutive session on Monday after government measures to help prop up the rupee from recent record lows failed to inspire investors, who were hoping for more extensive action.
Financial shares such as State Bank of India were among the day’s leading decliners, as part of falls across some of the country’s blue chips.
The Reserve Bank of India announced measures on Monday including raising the limit of foreign investment in government bonds by $5 billion to $20 billion and other relatively minor steps.
“Market has only itself to blame for today’s fall, given the kind of unnecessary expectations it had from RBI,” said Phani Sekhar, a fund manager at Angel Broking in Mumbai.
India’s main 30-share BSE index fell 0.53% to 16,882.16 points, after earlier rising as much as 0.93%.
The broader 50-share NSE index fell 0.61% to 5,114.65 points.
Hopes had risen after finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said over the weekend India would unveil measures on Monday to arrest the slide of rupee, after the currency hit a record low of 57.32 against the dollar on Friday.
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Indian markets retreated on Monday after the government’s measures to bolster the rupee failed to impress investors. Mint’s Lisa Pallavai Barbora looks at the stocks and sectors that moved the most.
India was seen as failing to deliver on Monday, though sentiment did get support after Moody’s Investors Service maintained on Monday a “stable” outlook on rating.
That denoted a more optimistic view after both Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings had cut their sovereign outlook for India to “negative.”
The banking sector as measured by Bank Nifty fell 1.12%: State Bank of India fell 1.98%, while HDFC Bank lost 1.41%.
Blue chips were largely weaker, especially recent outperformers declined. Oil and Natural Gas Corp fell 2.5%, after closing on Friday at its highest level since 15 March.
Among other decliners, Tata Steel fell 0.94%. Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to “underperform” from “neutral,” while maintaining its target price at Rs340, saying valuations are no longer “supportive.”
But index heavy weight Reliance Industries rose 0.73% after Moody’s said the long-term fundamentals of the company remain intact despite weak macro outlook.
Suzlon Energy rose 2% after a senior company official said it expects to tie up $300 million in loans from banks by the end of June to repay its overseas bondholders, raising hopes the wind turbine maker would meet its commitments.
