Sensex falls 642 points as US jobs data drags down global markets

• Global markets have taken a hit after the US unemployment data showed that more people were hired than economists expected.
• Sensex was trading 642 points lower at 57,548 while Nifty50 was down by 202 points at 17,112.
• Adding to the woes, the rupee recorded a new low of 82.70 against the US dollar on expectations of aggressive monetary policy tightening by central banks and rising crude oil prices.

Benchmark indices started the week on a lower note tracking the US and Asian markets, which were trading in red fearing a recession led by tighter monetary policy.

Global markets have taken a hit after the US unemployment data showed that more people were hired than economists expected. Investors are now worried that the US Fed could take this as a sign that the economy hasn’t slowed down, and will hike interest rates aggressively to get inflation under control, which could further lead to a recession.

Sensex was trading 642 points lower at 57,548 while Nifty50 was down by 202 points at 17,112 as of 10 am.

Adding to the woes, the rupee recorded a new low of 82.70 against the US dollar on expectations of aggressive monetary policy tightening by central banks and rising crude oil prices.

Oil prices continued to rise as Brent crude oil price was at $96.99 per barrel after OPEC’s decision of a large supply cut of about 2 million barrels per day — its largest reduction since Covid pandemic of 2020.

Moreover, this week is expected to be busy for Dalal Street with several macroeconomic data releases.

“In the coming week, participants will be eyeing important macroeconomic data viz. IIP, CPI and WPI for cues. Besides, the week also marks the beginning of the earnings season with IT majors like TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech and Wipro announcing their numbers along with two other heavyweights i.e. Bajaj Auto and HDFC Bank during the week. Amid all, the performance of US markets, FIIs trend, and movement in currency and crude will also remain on their radar,” Ajit Mishra, VP - Research at Religare Broking.

All sectoral indices were in red today with auto, banks and FMCG company stocks losing the most.

Top losers	% change
Tata Motors	-3.82%
Hero MotoCorp	-3.01%
HDFC	-2.41%
Tata Consumer Products	-2.31%
HDFC Bank	-2.10%
Bajaj Finserv	-2.08%

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