The BSE Sensex started Wednesday’s session on a lower note, shedding as much as 267 points to touch 34,079 in morning deals. Declines were led by selling witnessed in banking and metal shares – down around 1 per cent. Equities in the other Asian markets faltered after comments from new Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell revived fears about faster rate rises in the US. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) benchmark index, Nifty, fell 92 points to trade below the 10,500 mark.
Among the top losers on the 50-scrip Nifty were HPCL, ICICI Bank, Hindalco Industries, Yes Bank and Vedanta – trading between 1.5 per cent and 3 per cent lower. Investors also traded cautiously ahead of GDP growth data for the quarter of October-December, slated for release at 5:30 pm.
A Reuters poll forecast GDP expansion at 6.9 per cent, the fastest in 2017. If there was 6.9 per cent growth, that would top China’s 6.8 per cent annual pace for October-December. The last time the economy had a faster growth rate was in the final three months of 2016.
