Mumbai: Indian stock markets dipped to losses on Monday after HDFC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries came under selling pressure. The S&P BSE Sensex fell as much as 480 points to almost 38,700, and the NSE Nifty plunged 143 to 11,609 from its previous close.
The fall can be attributed to rising crude oil prices. Oil topped USD 74 a barrel on Monday, the highest since November, with the United States set to announce a further clampdown on Iranian oil exports, tightening global supplies.
The United States is expected to say later on Monday that buyers of Iranian oil need to end imports soon or face sanctions, a source familiar with the situation said, confirming an earlier Washington Post report. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose as much as 3.3 percent to USD 74.31 a barrel, the highest since November 1. It was up USD 1.94 at USD 73.91.
Selling in energy and banking stocks dragged the indexes lower, however some buying interest was seen in information technology shares.
Top laggards on the 50-scrip benchmark index at the time were Bharat Petroleum, Yes Bank, Indian Oil, Indiabulls Housing Finance, trading with losses of between 3.20 percent and 4.67 percent.
Reliance Industries, HDFC and ICICI Bank were the top drags on the S&P BSE Sensex. Shares in Jet Airways plunged as much as 23.17 percent on the NSE, touching their lowest in a decade.
On the other hand, information technology stocks spiked, with the Nifty IT index rising as much as 0.65 percent in intraday trade as the rupee depreciated. Weakness in the rupee boosts the profitability of exporters such as IT companies.
The rupee weakened by as much as 47 paise to 69.82 against the dollar during the session on rising crude oil prices.
Brent futures - the international benchmark for crude oil - rallied to a five-month high, after the Washington Post said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will announce "that as of May 2, the State Department will no longer grant sanctions waivers to any country that is currently importing Iranian crude or condensate". Brent crude rose 1.7 per cent to $73.24 per barrel - the highest since November 7, 2018.
Last week, HDFC Bank reported a record quarterly net profit of Rs. 5,885 crore for the quarter ended March 31, meeting market expectations.
Reliance Industries reported a record net profit of Rs. 10,362 crore for the fourth quarter of financial year 2018-19, higher than Street expectations.
Equities in other Asian markets were subdued as investors awaited the resumption of trading in major centres from the Good Friday holiday, and took stock of recent data suggesting global growth may be stabilising.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan little changed in early deals. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.3 percent, South Korea's KOSPI edged up 0.1 percent and Japan's Nikkei added 0.15 percent.
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