Indian shares hold near 5-mth low as US banking crisis looms – MarketsNews WAALI

BENGALURU: Indian shares on Tuesday touched near five-month lows hit in the previous session as the US banking crisis rattled investors globally.

The Nifty 50 index was down 0.2% to 17,127, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.14% to 58,158.09 at 09:20 am IST.

The fallout from the overnight collapse of US lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank widened despite government efforts to boost confidence, hitting bank shares globally.

Indian banks were among the biggest drags, falling 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively, even as analysts said the country’s lenders were insulated from the US banking crisis.

Meanwhile, India’s annual retail inflation rate eased to 6.44% in February from 6.52% in January but remained above the Reserve Bank of India’s upper limit for the second consecutive month.

Indian shares hit 5-month low on sell-off in financial stocks

Investors will now focus on US inflation data, due later in the day, for cues on the rate hike path amid expectations that the US Federal Reserve may now become less hawkish given the banking crisis .