Most Indian stocks fell as investors assessed heady valuations and new virus cases ahead of the winter holidays.
The S&P BSE Sensex was little changed at 46,966.57 as of 10:09 a.m. in Mumbai, as about two stocks fell for each one that rose. The NSE Nifty 50 Index lost 0.1%. Both measures extended record highs with gains of almost 2% last week, marking their longest weekly winning streaks since April 2019.
Street earnings growth expectations are high and market valuations are at a peak at a time that prospects of growth revival aren’t robust enough, Nomura Holdings Inc. analyst Saion Mukherjee said in a note published Saturday.
“The impact of the pandemic on consumers is large, and credit growth and spreads are far from indicating a sanguine outlook,” he wrote.
Virus infections have crossed the 10 million mark in the world’s second-largest hotspot as India awaits several emergency vaccine approvals. Meanwhile, monetary policy members unanimously voted to keep interest rates lower to battle a recession, overlooking high inflation, according to minutes of the Dec. 2-4 meeting released Friday.
The yield on the most-traded 5.77% 2030 sovereign bond rose one basis point to 5.97% while the rupee weakened 0.2% to 73.7263 per dollar.
