US rating cut leaves Indian investors poorer by ₹3.5 tn

livemint.com:

MUMBAI : Indian investors turned poorer by ₹3.5 trillion on Wednesday as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares to meet redemption pressures in developed markets spooked by Fitch Ratings’ downgrade of US credit ratings. Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex ended over 1% lower each at 19,526.55 and 65,782.78. FPIs sold shares worth a provisional ₹1,877.84 crore on Wednesday, even as domestic institutions sold shares worth a meagre ₹2.2 crore.

As foreign investors repatriated dollars after selling their Indian assets, demand for the greenback rose, driving the rupee lower by 33 paise to close at ₹82.59 to the dollar. The Nifty’s 207-point fall was the steepest in 11 months, while the Sensex’s 676.53 points was the sharpest in three months. The risk-off sentiment was reflected in the prices of safe-haven asset gold, which rose 1.6% during the day in the international market to $1,946 an ounce (31.10 gramme), and in the fear gauge India Vix, which surged almost 10%, the most in five months, to touch 11.28.

The Vix is inversely correlated with the stock market, rising when the markets fall and vice versa. Losses in the bellwether Nifty index were led by NTPC Ltd, Bajaj Finserv Ltd, Tata Motors Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd, and Hero MotoCorp Ltd, which fell between 2.7% and 3.5%. The advance-decline ratio was tilted in favour of the latter, with 49% of National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India Ltd’s 12,148 stocks declining, against just 39% of them advancing, while the rest remained unchanged.

However, market experts believe the fall was a knee-jerk reaction to Fitch’s downgrading of US credit ratings by a notch. Twelve years ago, S&P had similarly downgraded US credit ratings by a notch. “It’s a theoretical downgrade with concerns