Sensex decline continues

MUMBAI: Indian stocks fell for a fifth day, led by Reliance Industries, as a technical chart signaled more declines are in store for the $1.5 trillion equity market.

Reliance, owner of the world’s largest refining complex, tumbled the most in four weeks. Vedanta, the country’s top copper and aluminium producer, and Tata Steel were among the worst performers on the S&P BSE Sensex. Tata Motors slid to a 10-month low. Nestle India tumbled 7.4 per cent after capping its worst weekly loss in nine years amid a recall of its Maggi instant noodles.

The S&P BSE Sensex decreased 0.9 per cent to 26,523.09, the lowest close since October 20. The measure retreated 3.8 per cent last week after central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan said he’d assess the progress of the monsoon rains before adding to three interest-rate cuts this year. Deficient showers would be credit negative for India’s ratings as it would lower farm output and stoke food prices, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

“The credit policy was hawkish and monsoon fears have compounded pessimism,” Vaibhav Sanghavi, managing director at Ambit Investment Advisors, said by phone from Mumbai. “There are no catalysts for the market in the near term.”

The Sensex’s 50-day moving average fell below the 200-day mean on Monday for the first time in 22 months. The formation, known as a death cross, last occurred on Aug. 16, 2013, when the gauge lost as much as 9.8 per cent in less than two weeks before bottoming out, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

A death cross in March 2011 heralded an 18 per cent drop to a 28-month low in December, the data show. The 50-day average for the CNX Nifty was 8,385.29, and the 200-day measure was 8,347.94. The gauge declined 0.9 per cent to 8,044.15.

Reliance decreased 2.5 per cent, the biggest drop since May 12. Vedanta plunged 3.2 per cent and Tata Steel lost 2.8 per cent to its lowest level since October 2013.