Market Closes in Red for the Fifth Day in a Row

Indian markets closed in red on fifth day in a row due to concerns over expected interest rate rise by the central bank – Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The interest rate sensitive stocks pulled the market during last couple of hours. Due to high inflation figures, RBI is expected to hike policy rates by 25 basis points. The benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex closed at 5749 and 19,136, down by 0.62 and 1.03 percent respectively. Interest rate sensitive sectors such as Capital goods, Realty, Bankex and Consumer Durables have seen selling pressure though out the trading session and were down by 2.72, 2.66, 1.76 and 1.30 percent respectively. Axis bank, HDFC bank, SBI and Yes bank were down by 3.62, 1.98, 1.87 and 1.69 percent respectively. The FMCG, Healthcare and Oil&Gas indices closed in the green. The market breadth was negative with 1,960 declines against 940 advances.