Indian shares open lower on Fed rate hike fears, China COVID-19 woes
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Indian shares opened lower in broad-based declines on Friday after robust U.S. economic data revived concerns over higher interest rates, while a surge in COVID-19 infections in China also dampened risk appetite.
The Nifty 50 index was down 0.78% at 17,988 as of 9:30 a.m. IST, dropping below the 18,000 mark for the first time since Nov. 10. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.72% at 60,390.90.
China is expecting a peak in COVID-19 infections within a week, a health official said, sparking concerns across the world.
Almost all the sectoral indexes declined. The one exception was the pharma index, <.NIPHARM>, which rose 1.36% on news that India is ready to step up exports of fever medicines to China.
Forty-four of the Nifty 50 constituents fell. The few gainers included health stocks such as Cipla , Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy's.
Wall Street equities fell sharply overnight after third-quarter gross domestic product growth was revised higher, while unemployment benefits claims for November also increased lesser than expected.
The data showed a resilient economy and fuelled fears that the Federal Reserve could raise rates further and for a longer period to tackle inflation, while raising the possibility of a recession.
That gives greater importance to U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data, the Fed's preferred measure of inflation, due later in the day.
Asian markets also declined after the slide in U.S. shares, with the MSCI Asia ex Japan falling 0.94%. [MKTS/GLOB]
