Tech, real estate stocks drag Indian shares lower
BENGALURU - Indian shares extended losses to a fifth session on Thursday and stocks across sectors dropped as global investor mood turned dour over worries that more rate hikes and a faster pace of tightening by central banks might hamper economic growth.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.41% at 16,286.75, as of 0354 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.45% to 54,652.60. If losses hold, both indexes will log a loss for a fifth consecutive session.
Most major sub-indexes were trading lower early on Thursday with technology stocks falling 0.9%, while real estate stocks were down 0.8%.
On Wednesday, in a widely expected move, the Reserve Bank of India raised the repo rate by 50 basis points just a month after an unscheduled 40 basis point repo rate hike in May, signalling stricter tightening ahead to fight soaring inflation.
On Thursday, Asian shares also fell with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipping 0.39% ahead of a key meeting of the European Central Bank.[MKTS/GLOB]