Falling for third day, Sensex on Thursday slid about 62 points to end at 26,995.87, its weakest level in nearly two weeks, on caution due to lingering worries over early Fed rate hikes and after US President Barack Obama promised to destroy militants in oil producers Syria and Iraq.
A heavy sell-off mainly in Sun Pharma, ONGC and Coal India led the BSE benchmark to end below 27,000-mark. In three straight sessions, Sensex has now lost nearly 324 points after hitting record highs on Monday.Similarly, the broader 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE eased 8.40 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 8,085.70 -- its lowest close since 8,083.05 on September 2.Jittery global markets, already spooked by earlier than expected US Fed interest rate hike talk, became nervous after Obama's vow.
The US President today promised to "degrade and ultimately destroy" the Islamic State (IS) as he announced a major expansion of the military campaign, including American airstrikes in Syria and deployment of 475 more military advisers to Iraq, to achieve this goal.Weak Asian as well as European cues ahead of US jobless claims data and China's subdued inflation last month too weighed negatively on domestic sentiment, brokers said.
Oil prices rise after Obama speech on Iraq strategy
Oil prices rose in Asia on Thursday after US President Barack Obama vowed to destroy jihadist militants in crude producers Syria and Iraq, but analysts said weak global demand and a supply glut capped gains.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery rose 16 cents to $91.83 while Brent crude for October gained 14 cents to $98.18 in mid-morning trade.
In a prime-time televised address, Obama said the US was ready to strike the "Islamic State" (IS) in Syria, while vowing to expand operations against them in neighbouring Iraq.
The Islamic State group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the levant (ISIl), has overrun large swathes of Iraq and Syria and declared a "caliphate" in those areas.
Rupee ends two paise higher at 60.93 Vs US dollar
Snapping a two-day declining trend, the rupee today managed to end two paise higher at 60.93 against the greenback after late dollar demand and negative cues from stocks washed out a major part of mid-session gains.Dollar demand from importers and some banks on hopes of further rise in dollar value tracking talk of early interest rate hike by US Fed, mainly led the rupee to veer near its previous closing level of 60.95, a four-week low.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit resumed better at 60.87 a dollar and immediately touched a low of 60.9450.
Gold falls toward 3-Month low on US outlook
Gold on Thursday fell toward a three-month low as investors assessed the outlook for an improving US economy.Gold lost 0.1 per cent to $1,248.05 an ounce. It fell to $1,243.95 yesterday, the lowest since June 5. Silver also slipped by 0.7 per cent to $18.83 an ounce after reaching $ 18.82, the lowest since June 5.
Holdings in silver-backed exchange-traded products rose to 19,897.5 metric tonnes yesterday, the highest since November.Prospects for higher borrowing costs in the US and the European Central Bank's announcement of more stimulus helped the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index reach a 14-month high.