Sensex Falls Over 300 Points As Market Sentiment Remains Sour

Indian equity benchmarks fell on Thursday ahead of key US inflation data, tracking a sea of red in global stocks driven by a fall in market sentiment as investors were spooked by by the potential failure of a top crypto exchange.

The BSE Sensex index fell 327.34 points to 60,706.21, and the broader NSE Nifty opened in the red, down 0.57 per cent to 18,052.65.

With no clear direction from the US mid-term elections, investors were focusing on the US inflation data later in the day, in which a significant increase would probably support the Federal Reserve’s vigorous push to tighten monetary policy.

“Amid a sea of red across the global markets, key local benchmark indices brace for a rough trading session in Thursday trades. Overnight, the US equities witnessed a major sell-off as investors resorted to panic selling as the mid-term election results still remained undecided,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President for Research at Mehta Equities.

“Besides, all eyes will be on the US CPI data to trickle in later today, which would signify the future policy rate decision by the US Fed,” he added.

Early trading saw a slide in MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific equities outside of Japan, which was weighed down by losses in China’s bluechips and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index.

The Nikkei in Japan fell 1 per cent.

Shares fell overnight on Wall Street as Republican victories in the midterm elections were more restrained than some had anticipated.

After a stunning bailout plan with its rival exchange Binance fell through on Wednesday, FTX Chief Executive Officer Sam Bankman-Fried informed staff that he was looking into all alternatives for his company.

That hurt market sentiment for risk assets.