An evening walk down Dalal Street

It was a double whammy for the market on Tuesday as a weak rupee along with higher crude oil prices dragged the market further. The Nifty managed to give up 11,550-mark, while the Sensex shed 38,200-mark as well.

Investors were likely to have been worried about macro effect of higher crude oil prices, even as Brent crude touched USD 79 per barrel. Any upmove on oil prices adversely impacts domestic macros, particularly in case of India. The nation imports a huge quantity of its oil requirements. Hence, this bullishness could hurt India’s finances as more money would have had to be spent by the exchequer to buy this oil

Further adding to the problems for India were a depreciation in the Indian rupee. It fell below the psychological mark of 71.50 and plunged to a record low of 71.5363.

There was selling across all the sectors, with a major downward move seen among banks, FMCG, auto, infra, metals, pharamceuticals and PSU banks. Information technology (IT) stocks were the biggest gainers as the sharp fall in rupee boosted technology stocks. A depreciated rupee bodes well for export-oriented companies, such as that of IT companies as it ensures better revenues for them.

The day began on a good note, but selling began within the first few minutes of trade in the morning. Banks were a big drag, but it was the rupee that led to the big drag. Additionally, sentiment could have been soured as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) cried foul over SEBIs’ circular asking for KYC compliance for all such cases, failing which they will have to wind up positions.

At the close of market hours, Sensex closed down 154.60 points or 0.40% at 38157.92, while the Nifty fell 62.10 points or 0.54% at 11520.30. The market breadth is negative as 758 shares advanced, against a decline of 1,983 shares, while 152 shares were unchanged.

Infosys, Tech Mahindra, TCS and HCL Tech Mahindra were the top gainers, while Asian Paints, SBI, Grasim and Indiabulls Housing were the top losers.