Markets decline for third day, hit a two-week low

The Nifty 50 ended 1.01% lower and the Sensex fell 1.06% in Thursday’s trade

BENGALURU: India’s blue-chip stock indexes saw hefty losses for a third straight session on Thursday as inflation and policy tightening fears continued to pressure technology stocks, while heavyweight Bajaj Finserv dropped after reporting a lower quarterly profit.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index ended 1.01% lower at 17,757 and the S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.06% to 59,464.62, both registering their lowest closing level in two weeks.

The indexes have fallen nearly 4% from the three-month peaks touched earlier this week, with analysts saying that a correction was due ahead of India’s federal budget.

The Nifty and Sensex are still up around 8% from the lows seen in December and around 4.5% off the record highs touched in October.

Reliance Industries, India’s most valuable company, fell 1.8% ahead of its quarterly results due late on Friday.

IT majors Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services tumbled 2.3% each, dragging the Nifty IT index to its lowest level in a month, after the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell into a correction territory on Wednesday.

Nifty component Bajaj Finserv, a holding company for financial services businesses including non-bank lender Bajaj Finance, sank 4.5% to a more than two-week low after its quarterly net profit slipped.

Automaker Bajaj Auto slid 3.7% on reporting a bigger-thanexpected fall in profit.

Non-bank lender PTC India Financial services saw its worst plunge in nearly seven years as it sank 18.5% after saying three of its independent directors resigned citing lapses in corporate governance.

Consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever dropped 2.1% ahead of its quarterly results.

In the global markets, European stocks fell on Thursday as cautious investors continued to assess how far and fast the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates this year.

Also keeping a lid on risk taking were the tech-laden U.S. Nasdaq entering correction territory on Wednesday, a sell-off in bonds, still elevated crude oil prices and increased political tensions over Ukraine. But Chinese stocks were a bright spot after the country cut benchmark mortgage rates.