Sensex Bleeds At 548 Points, Nifty Slips Below 22,400 As Oil And Yields Weigh

Mumbai: Indian equity markets closed lower on October 12 as foreign investor selling, rising bond yields and tensions in West Asia weakened sentiment. The Sensex fell 547.65 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 71,924.68, while the Nifty 50 lost 157.10 points, or 0.70 per cent, to settle at 22,363.35.

The decline reversed the positive opening, with inflation worries and global uncertainty weighing on investor appetite.

Foreign Outflows And Yields Weigh

Vikram Kasat, Chief Business Officer at PL Capital, attributed the selling to higher bond yields, FII outflows, geopolitical tensions and weak overseas cues.

He said profit-booking increased volatility. Although the rupee’s recovery offered relief, elevated yields and inflation concerns continued to cloud the outlook.

Kasat advised focusing on fundamentally strong businesses and staggering investments until earnings visibility and market participation improve.

Media Stocks Outperform As Banks Slip

Sectoral performance was mixed. Nifty Media surged more than 4 per cent, leading gains among the indices cited.

Realty advanced 0.63 per cent, auto gained 0.60 per cent and pharma rose 0.25 per cent.

PSU banks fell 1.31 per cent, while IT declined 1.14 per cent. Metals lost 0.55 per cent and private banks slipped 0.52 per cent.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Bajaj Auto, BSE, Bharat Electronics, Cipla and TMPV were among the leading Nifty gainers.

Apollo Hospitals, ITC, Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Max Healthcare and Hindalco featured among the losers.

Brent Reaches $106 As Bullion Falls

Brent crude rose 1.15 per cent to $106 a barrel at the time of reporting, renewing concerns about energy costs and inflation.

Gold declined more than 1.12 per cent to ₹1,49,800 per 10 grams for 24-karat purity. Silver fell 0.83 per cent to ₹2,23,870 per kilogram.

Asian Markets Show Uneven Performance

South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 3.79 per cent to 6,384. Taiwan’s weighted index edged down 0.02 per cent to 49,301.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.04 per cent, while Singapore’s Straits Times rose 0.25 per cent.