Sensex, Nifty drop nearly 1% on global recession fears

Benchmark BSE Sensex and Nifty closed lower by nearly 1% on July 26 amid fresh foreign fund outflows and mixed global trends.

The 30-share BSE benchmark fell by 497.73 points or 0.89% to settle at 55,268.49, extending its losses for second straight day. During the day, it tanked 562.79 points or 1% to 55,203.43.

The broader NSE Nifty declined by 147.15 points or 0.88% to 16,483.85.

Among Sensex constituents, Infosys, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Wipro, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Larsen & Toubro were the biggest laggards.

Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers.

The Fed’s meeting commencing today, which is expected to maintain its aggressive rate hike of 75 bps (basis points), and recession fears, especially in western markets, weighed on market sentiment, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

“Even though the domestic market is showcasing strength, the spillover effect from the western market is inevitable,” Mr. Nair added.

In Asia, markets in Tokyo ended marginally lower, while Shanghai, Seoul and Hong Kong settled higher.

Markets in Europe were trading mostly lower during mid-session deals. The U.S. markets had ended on a mixed note on Monday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.38% to 106.6 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth ₹844.78 crore on Monday, as per exchange data.