Indian shares extend losses as global risk appetite wavers

BENGALURU, Sept 22 (Reuters) - A fall in information technology and pharma stocks dragged Indias benchmark indexes lower on Friday, setting them up for their worst week in seven months as investors feared the U.S. Feds hawkish note might hold foreign investors back.

The Nifty 50 (.NSEI) was down 0.1% at 19,734 points as of 10:35 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.1% to 66,150 points.

Both indexes were down about 2.5% for the week and were on track for their first weekly decline in four and their worst week since week-ending Feb. 24.

The U.S. Federal Reserves hawkish pause message has created a global risk-averse sentiment, while foreign investors have reversed their “buy India strategy,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Higher interest rates dry up liquidity from the markets, increasing the cost of capital. Foreign investors have been net sellers so far this month, offloading shares worth $996.2 million as of Sept. 20.

Kotak analysts flagged a possible delay in recovery in discretionary spending for Indian IT services companies, which have already warned about an uncertain demand environment.

The IT index (.NIFTYIT) was down 0.6%, led by 2.2% losses in Wipro (WIPR.NS) after the companies chief financial officer resigned suddenly.

Pharma stocks (.NIPHARM), which have a large generics drug market in the U.S., were down 1.9%, with Cipla (CIPL.NS), Dr Reddys (REDY.NS) and Sun Pharma (SUN.NS) acting as top drags in Nifty 50 index, losing 2.3%-1.2%.

Public sector banks (.NIFTYPSU) were top gainers among sectoral indexes, rising 2%.

Domestically focussed mid-caps (.MIFMDCP100) and small-caps (.NIFSMCP100) were down 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the inclusion of Indian government bonds in JPMorgans widely tracked emerging market debt index from June 2024, will reduce the cost of borrowing for Indian companies, Geojits Vijayakumar said.