off-the-wire

CORRECTED-INDIA STOCKS-Indian shares fall ahead of inflation data; Adani stocks slide

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
(Corrects to $100 billion from $100 million in paragraph 11) BENGALURU, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Indian shares were off to a muted start on Monday, ahead of domestic retail inflation data due later in the day and U.S. inflation data due tomorrow, while the ongoing uncertainty and spillover effects from the Adani Group's market rout continued to create an overhang. The Nifty 50 index was down 0.29% at 17,804.60 as of 9:37 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.35% to 60,472.28. Ten of the 13 major sectoral indexes declined, with information technology stocks falling nearly 2% amid worries of a growth slowdown in the U.S., from where they get a significant share of their revenue.


On the flip side, metals gained with a 1% rise. Twenty-seven of Nifty 50 constituents advanced with Titan Co and Eicher Motors Ltd among top gainers.


Wall Street equities closed lower on Friday, on fears of a longer-than-expected high-rate regime after hawkish comments from key Federal Reserve officials. Asian markets fell, with the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan sliding 0.63%. Investors await India's retail inflation data for January, due today. A Reuters poll of economists showed that India's annual retail inflation rose from a 12-month low in December, but stayed within the 6% upper limit of RBI's tolerance band in January. The uncertainty over the Adani conglomerate added to concerns in domestic markets. "The Adani group saga continues to weigh on investors' minds and hence the sentiment has been negative," said Prashanth Tapse of Mehta Equities.


The group has lost over $100 billion in market value since Jan. 24, when U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate of stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens. India's market regulator is probing the group's links to some of the investors in its scrapped $2.5 billion share sale of the flagship Adani Enterprises. ($1 = 82.5250 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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