Sensex, Nifty extend losses into 3rd session on mounting geopolitical tensions
Mumbai, Jun 19 (PTI): Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower for the third straight session on Thursday, in line with weak trends in global markets, as geopolitical uncertainties due to the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict unnerved investors.
The US Fed's decision to keep interest rates unchanged and rising global crude prices also dampened market sentiment, experts said.
In a largely volatile trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 82.79 points, or 0.10 per cent, to settle at 81,361.87. During the day, it hit a high of 81,583.94 and a low of 81,191.04, gyrating 392.9 points.
As many as 3,018 stocks declined, while 959 advanced and 140 remained unchanged on the BSE.
The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped 18.80 points or 0.08 per cent to 24,793.25.
"The Indian equity index experienced range-bound movement with a negative bias as cautious sentiment spread across the globe, driven by concerns over the potential US involvement in the Middle East conflict.
"Investor mood was further affected by the Fed's decision to keep interest rates unchanged while signalling persistent inflation and slower economic growth, which weighed on software export stocks," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
From the Sensex firms, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Nestle and Tata Steel were among the major laggards.
In contrast, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel and Maruti were among the gainers.
The BSE smallcap gauge tanked 1.77 per cent and the midcap index lost 1.64 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, services dropped 1.68 per cent, realty (1.63 per cent), utilities (1.61 per cent), power (1.24 per cent), IT (1.14 per cent), metal (1.18 per cent) and commodities (1.05 per cent).
Auto emerged as the only gainer.
In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled in the negative territory, while South Korea's Kospi ended marginally higher.
European markets were trading lower in mid-session deals.
US markets ended on a mixed note on Wednesday.
"Markets traded lacklustre on the weekly expiry day and ended almost flat amid mixed cues. The US Fed's decision to maintain the status quo, which was largely anticipated, failed to elicit any significant reaction," Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.
With geopolitical tensions driving crude prices higher, further deterioration is likely if crude makes a sustained move above the USD 80 mark, he added.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.26 per cent to USD 76.90 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 890.93 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 1,091.34 crore.
On Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 138.64 points or 0.17 per cent to settle at 81,444.66. The Nifty edged lower by 41.35 points or 0.17 per cent to settle at 24,812.05.
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Indigo flights chaos: SCR to run special trains to clear passenger rush
Hyderabad (PTI): The South Central Railway on Saturday announced that it would run four special trains to manage the surge in passengers resulting from the large-scale cancellation of IndiGo flights here.
The move comes as flyers face significant disruption and long queues at the airport due to the cancellation.
A press release from the SCR said it is running the special trains to clear the extra rush of passengers to Chennai, Mumbai and Shalimar (Kolkata) from Hyderabad today.
Meanwhile, as many as 43 outbound Indigo flights were cancelled from here on Saturday, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport sources said.
ALSO READ: IndiGo cancels over 200 flights from Delhi, Mumbai on Saturday
Similarly, 26 incoming flights are also likely to be cancelled during the day, they said.
The flight cancellations drew ire from passengers, who thronged the IndiGo counters at the airport demanding to know the exact situation.
“This is utter nonsense! Digiyatra done, message received that departure has been rescheduled ahead of the scheduled departure and now upon arriving at Hyderabad airport coming to know at the security checkpoint that Indigo flight is cancelled,” Tarun Singha, former Ministry of Defence spokesperson said in a post on X.
“But the thing is if you don’t shout they do nothing. Example at Hyderabad Airport, there was no staff no flight information for an hour. Then a fellow passenger started shouting on mic and an Indigo staff appeared finally,” a netizen said in a post.
On Friday, when IndiGo cancelled over 1,000 flights from across airports, its CEO Pieter Elbers apologised in a video message for the major inconvenience caused to passengers due to the disruptions.
In the one-way video communication, Elbers also said that the airline was expecting fewer than 1,000 flights on Saturday.
