Pulse of the Street: Indian equities fall as global headwinds and domestic woes bite

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Persistent tensions in West Asia and a worsening energy crisis at home dragged Indian equities to their worst weekly performance in two months. The Nifty 50 ended the week 2.2% lower at 23,643.50, while the Sensex fell 2.7% to 75,237.99.

The last time headline indices posted steeper weekly losses was in the week ended 13 March, when both benchmarks had fallen a little over 5%.Rising crude oil prices, a sharp rupee depreciation, and mounting inflation concerns pushed benchmark indices into the red this week, reversing gains from the last two sessions. Although markets initially opened on a resilient footing on Friday amid supportive global cues and a strong overnight rally in US technology stocks, persistent selling pressure across cyclical sectors eventually dragged indices into negative territory, said experts.Real estate emerged as the top loser this week, falling nearly 8%, as rising bond yields and inflationary concerns reduced risk appetite for interest rate-sensitive sectors.

Meanwhile, IT stocks rebounded sharply on Friday after recent corrections, aided by value buying, supportive global tech cues, and improving confidence in long-term enterprise artificial intelligence spending. Even so, IT remained the week’s second-worst performing sector after automobiles.Telecommunications and metals were the top outperformers this week, despite metal stocks witnessing sharp profit booking on Friday.

“Metals may be nearing a prolonged consolidation phase as higher bond yields, a stronger dollar, and elevated crude prices begin to weigh on global growth and commodity demand,” said Karan Aggarwal, co-founder and chief investment officer at Ametra PMS. “Investors should use the present rally