Sensex Logs 4th Straight Weekly Loss on Demonetisation Concern

Mumbai: Indian stock market recorded its fourth straight weekly loss, with the Sensex sliding 669 points to end at a six-month low of 26,150.24 and the Nifty dropping over 222 points to 8,074 as fears of severe cash crunch gripped sentiment after demonetisation of high value currency.

Besides, an uncertainty with regard to US President-elect Donald Trump's likely policies in the coming months also made domestic investors nervous as they believe he might adopt a protectionist approach towards American businesses -- which will lead to outflows of funds from emerging markets.

The government on November 8 announced the withdrawal of old high-value currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from circulation, which severely affected most of the cash-dependent sectors such as real estate, metal, consumer goods among others. A sharp depreciation in the rupee value against the dollar also dampened the mood in domestic market.

The rupee breached the psychological 68-mark to end near 9-month low of 68.13 against the dollar as sentiment turned bearish on combination of growing US rate hike expectations and stunning dollar run.

Primarily, investors were worried that Trump's policies stance - from protectionism and fiscal expansion - will boost inflation and lead the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more than expected.

US bond yields surged which triggered concerns that a higher interest rates in the US will spark capital outflows from the emerging equity markets. Besides, a mixed trend on other Asian stock markets also influenced the trading momentum in the domestic equity market. I

n the week ended, the Sensex fell by 668.58 points, or 2.49 per cent, to settle at 26,150.24 -- its lowest level since May 25, 2016. The 30-share pack has tumbled 1,926.94 points, or 6.86 per cent, in last four weeks. The Nifty 50 index fell 222.20 points, or 2.68 per cent, to end at 8,074.10. The Nifty has also dropped by 618.95 points, or 7.12 per cent, in four weeks.

Good news on the macro-economic front brought little respite to the domestic market as both indices -- Sensex and Nifty -- continued their free-fall to log fourth straight weekly loss.

Retail inflation dipped to 4.2 per cent in October compared with 4.39 per cent in September, while wholesale inflation also came down to 3.39 per cent in October as against 3.57 per cent in the previous month.