MARKETS FALL AND RUPEE HITS 18-MONTH LOW AHEAD OF US INFLATION DATA

BENGALURU: Shares snapped a three-session winning streak on Friday, while the rupee hit an 18-month low against the dollar ahead of U.S. inflation data that could set the course for sooner interest rate rises by the Federal Reserve.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index declined 0.61% to 17,412.30 by 0715 GMT and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.64% to 58,430.30, weighed down by IT and banking stocks. For the week, the Nifty has risen 1.6% while the Sensex has added 1.9%.

The rupee was at 75.71 per dollar, its lowest since June 2020, compared with Thursday’s close of 75.52.

“The U.S. Federal Reserve is more keen in unwinding the stimulus and hiking rates, while the Reserve Bank of India is not keen in going for a hawkish stance. This divergence has created pressure on the rupee,” said Arnob Biswas, FX research head at SMC Global Securities.

Also, the RBI is not coming out aggressively in stemming the rupee’s fall, he added.

The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) report for November is due later in the day and a Reuters poll of economists expects it to have risen 6.8% year-on-year, accelerating from a 6.2% increase in October.

On the Nifty, the IT index was the biggest drag, falling as much as 0.82%. Tata Consultancy Services and Coforge Ltd were the only sub-index constituents trading higher, both up about 0.5%.

Most banking stocks fell, with RBL Bank and Axis Bank down 1.51% and 1.29% respectively. The Nifty Bank index slipped 0.67%.

In the international markets, European stocks and the dollar steadied Friday. Asian equity markets closed down following overnight losses on Wall Street and a positive start to the week for global stocks as traders assessed developments surrounding the Omicron coronavirus variant.