Last Updated: October 20, 2023, 09:32 IST
Sensex Today: Equity benchmark indices opened with cuts on Friday as crude oil prices and bond yields in the US continued to move higher. In line with other Asian peers, the BSE Sensex fell 270 points to 65,352, and the NSE Nifty50 slipped 90 points to 19,535.
This weakness comes after Fed Chief Jerome Powell said rates are not too high currently, sending US 10-year treasury yield to 5 per cent, the first time since July 20, 2007.
On the Sensex, Ultratech Cement and Tata Motors rose up to 1.2 per cent, while Adani Enterprises led gains on Nifty.
Other frontline stocks sat in red, with highest losses in HUL, ITC, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Power Grid and HCL Tech.
The BSE MidCap index was down 0.14 per cent but the SmallCap index rose 0.32 per cent.
Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “The US 10-year yield hovering around 5% continues to be a headwind for equity markets. The volatile situation in West Asia, though being largely ignored by the market now, can pose additional near-term challenges. FPIs are likely to remain sellers putting pressure on banking stocks which constitute the major share of their AUM. This provides an opportunity for domestic investors to buy these stocks which are available at fair valuations. Latest data shows that India’s food grain production is at record high and this can keep food inflation under control. The implication is that the MPC will go for a long pause and this is favourable for banking stocks.”
