Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid uncertainties in war zones of the Middle East and Ukraine, investors braced for the upcoming US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting for clues on its future interest rates cut path, ahead of next month’s inauguration of the Trump 2.0 era, Indian stocks plunged on Tuesday, with benchmark BSE Sensex down by 1064.12 points (1.3 percent) to close at 80,684.45, while the broader NSE Nifty 50 index declined 332.25 points, or 1.35 percent, to 24,336.
The Indian rupee (INR) weakened to its lifetime low on Tuesday, hurt by concerns about a widening trade deficit and likely outflows from local equities, although intervention by the central bank capped losses. The rupee hit a low of 84.93 against the US dollar, before closing at 84.8950, down 0.04 percent.
India’s gold imports are set for a sharp slowdown in December following record purchases in November, in the absence of any major festival—and despite the ongoing marriage season—as rebounding prices prompted buyers to delay purchases.
Lower gold imports by India, the second-biggest consumer of the precious metal worldwide, could cap a rally in global prices that hit a record high in October. The drop in imports could also help India narrow its trade deficit and support the ailing rupee.
The only top gainers at the NSE were Cipla (0.50 percent) and Wipro (0.02 percent) while top losers included Shriram Finance, Grasim, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, and IndusInd whose stocks lost 2.13 percent to 4.86 percent of their values.
Stocks that advanced on BSE were 1,567 against 2,411 stocks that declined, and 103 remained unchanged. Total stocks traded were 4,081. The number of stocks that recorded a 52-week high was 271, and those that hit a 52-week low was 26. A total of 364 stocks traded in the upper circuit, and 219 in the lower circuit, the media reported.