Nifty 50 sinks below 23,900 as Fed rate outlook disappoints global markets; Sensex slumps nearly 1,200 points
Domestic equity benchmarks Nifty 50 and Sensex suffered heavy losses on Thursday after the Fed announced a 25-basis-point rate cut but its outlook for future rate cuts sent shockwaves across global markets. Read on to learn more about the December 19 session on Dalal Street.
Domestic equity benchmarks registered sharp losses on Thursday amid a global sell-off following the Federal Reserve's more cautious outlook on futures rate cuts. The Sensex fell as much as 1,162.1 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 79,020.1 during the session while the Nifty50 slumped to as low as 23,870.3, down 328.6 points, or 1.4 per cent, for the day. Heavy across-the-board selling pulled the main indices lower, with financial, IT, energy and FMCG stocks being the worst hit.
The US central bank announced a 25-basis-point cut in the benchmark US interest rates, but the Federal Open Market Committee's projections indicated two rate cuts in 2025, half of what was predicted in September.
At 12:15 pm, the Sensex traded 858.1 points, or 1.1 per cent, lower at 79,324.1 while the Nifty50 was down 224.4 points, or 0.9 per cent, at 23,974.5.
Asian Paints, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Grasim Industries, JSW Steel, ICICI Bank, BEL, Nestle India, Larsen & Toubro and Tech Mahindra, trading between 1.3 per cent and 2.5 per cent lower, were the worst hit among the 37 losers in the Nifty50 basket.
On the other hand, Dr Reddy's, BPCL, Cipla, Tata Consumer Products and Hero MotoCorp, trading between 0.6 per cent and 3.4 per cent higher, were the top gainers in the 50-blue-chip pack.
IT heavyweights like TCS and Infosys weighed on the Nifty IT, making it the top loser among NSE's sectoral gauges.
The Nifty Bank and the Nifty Financial Services indices fell about one per cent each.
| Index | Change (%) |
| NIFTY IT | -1.3 |
| NIFTY FINANCIAL SERVICES | -1.1 |
| NIFTY PRIVATE BANK | -1.0 |
| NIFTY BANK | -1.0 |
| NIFTY CONSUMER DURABLES | -1.0 |
| NIFTY METAL | -1.0 |
| NIFTY MEDIA | -0.9 |
| NIFTY REALTY | -0.7 |
| NIFTY AUTO | -0.6 |
| NIFTY FMCG | -0.3 |
| NIFTY PSU BANK | -0.3 |
| NIFTY OIL & GAS | 0.2 |
| NIFTY HEALTHCARE INDEX | 1.0 |
| NIFTY PHARMA | 1.3 |
Broader indices Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 fared relatively better, down around 0.4 per cent each.
Overall market breadth remained extremely negative with an advance-decline ratio of 3:5 on BSE. In other words, three stocks rose for every five falling scrips on the exchange.
Global Markets
European shares were set to start the day on a negative note, mirroring losses across Asian stocks after a sell-off on Wall Street, with Stoxx 600 futures trading down 1.3 per cent lower at the last count. Asian equities fell sharply, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares falling 1.4 per cent after Japan's Nikkei 225 barometer declined 0.7 per cent.
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