(RTTNews) – Indian shares were sharply lower in early trade on Wednesday as higher oil prices and elevated bond yields fueled concerns about inflation and Federal Reserve rate hikes.
Brent crude futures rose toward $96 a barrel, extending gains for a third consecutive session to the highest level in nearly six weeks amid escalating fighting between the U.S. and Iran.
Rising oil prices pressured bonds, pushing global bond yields to the highest since 2008 and increasing the prospect of a Federal Reserve rate hike later this month.
The benchmark BSE Sensex fell 560 points, or 0.7 percent, to 76,382 while the NSE Nifty index was down 209 points, or 0.9 percent, at 23,845.
Among the prominent decliners, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Eternal, HDFC Bank, BEL, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints and Indigo fell 1-3 percent.
Hero MotoCorp slumped 4.3 percent after August sales figures came in below expectations.
NMDC dropped 1.1 percent despite reporting higher iron ore output and sales in August.
Sical Logistics jumped 5 percent on bagging a Rs. 534.73 crore, five-year contract from Central Coalfields Limited.
Adani Green Energy gained 1.3 percent after operationalizing a 139 MW solar power project in Gujarat.
