off-the-wire

REFILE-INDIA STOCKS-Indian shares open lower on rate fears after Powell's testimony

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
(Adds dropped word "shares" in headline) By Bharath Rajeswaran BENGALURU, March 8 (Reuters) - Indian shares opened lower on Wednesday, tracking a slide in global equities after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the likelihood of aggressive rate hikes to tackle inflation. The Nifty 50 index fell 0.49% to 17,625.95, while the S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.48% to 59,931.07 as of 9:31 a.m. IST. Twelve of the 13 major sectoral indexes declined, with high weightage financials and information technology shedding 0.4% and 1.2%, respectively.


The slide comes after Powell's testimony before the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, in which he said strong economic data in the United States raised the possibility of prolonged and higher-than-expected interest rate hikes. Global markets fell after Powell's testimony, with the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan losing 1.82%. The probability of a 50 basis point (bps) increase in the federal funds target rate at the upcoming meeting has now risen above 70%. The semi-annual, two-day monetary policy testimony will continue on Wednesday.


Thirty-seven of the Nifty 50 constituents logged losses with Hindalco and IT stocks falling the most. Most of the Adani group stocks, however, extended gains after U.S. boutique investment firm GQG Partners' GQG.AX $1.87 billion investment in the conglomerate on Thursday. The group's flagship firm Adani Enterprises rose over 1% and was the top Nifty 50 gainer. Among non-index stocks, NBCC India jumped over 2% after getting work orders worth 5.41 billion rupees ($65.81 million), while Ajanta Pharma climbed 2% ahead of a board meeting on Friday discussing share buybacks. ($1 = 82.2100 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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