India’s Sensex closed down 1,045 points on Thursday as oil stayed above 100 dollars, a day after the RBI raised the repo rate to 5.50 percent.
India’s BSE Sensex fell 1,045.46 points, or 1.44 percent, to close at 71,593.24 on Thursday, Open Magazine reported. The NSE Nifty dropped 371.25 points, or 1.64 percent, to 22,231.80, after an intraday low of 22,179.
The drop came a day after the Reserve Bank of India raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50 percent and shifted its stance to calibrated tightening, the magazine said, citing Reuters on the decision. The Times of India said the move was the first rate increase in nearly four years and that markets opened with that change, oil prices and the currency in view.
Open Magazine said crude above 104 dollars and foreign selling added to the pressure. It cited Reuters for net foreign selling of 46,990 crore rupees over nine days and year-to-date outflows of 30.4 billion dollars. Those flow figures are as reported by the magazine, not a new RBI release.
Smaller stocks fell more than the benchmark, the magazine said, linking the move to tighter money and higher energy costs. It did not name a single company as the cause of the index drop.
The rate decision was Wednesday’s event. Thursday’s new fact is the market close. No emergency RBI statement on the selloff was cited.