Indian shares slip on bond yield worries; energy stocks rise

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares fell for a second straight session on Friday as rising U.S. Treasury yields spooked equity investors, although a jump in oil explorers on higher crude prices limited losses.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.23% to 15,039.2 by 0435 GMT and the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.28% at 50,712.52, after falling as much as 1% each in early trade.

Still, both the indexes were set to add more than 3.5% for the week thanks to positive economic growth data and progress in the country’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

Following a weaker finish on Wall Street overnight, Asian shares plumbed one-month lows as U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell disappointed investors by not indicating that the Fed might step up purchases of long-term bonds to hold down longer-term interest rates.

“Chances of foreign investors pulling out some money from emerging markets like India have strengthened as U.S. bond yield increases,” said Gaurav Garg, head of research at CapitalVia Global Research.

Foreign investors have sold a net $308.7 million worth of Indian equities this week, as of Thursday’s close, Refinitiv data showed.

Private-sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were the biggest drags on the Nifty 50 on Friday, declining 2.5% and 2%, respectively. The Nifty Bank Index lost 1.9%.

Wipro Ltd declined as much as 3% after announcing it would buy British consultancy Capco for $1.45 billion.

Capping the losses, Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Oil India advanced 4.9% and 3.5%, respectively, as oil prices rose after OPEC and its allies agreed not to increase supply in April.

Reliance Industries, the country’s most valuable company, gained 0.9%.

Agrochemical maker Heranba Industries Ltd surged 50% in its market debut following strong investor response to its $85 million initial public offering last month.

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