Indian stocks extend losses for third straight session; Sensex down around 500 pts

New Delhi [India], November 21 : Indian stock indices extended their slump for the third consecutive session to start a fresh week. Continued profit booking by investors coupled with an eye on the future course of monetary policy action by the US Federal Reserve weighed on the indices.
At the time of writing this report, Sensex traded at 61,172.36 points, down 491.12 points or 0.80 per cent, whereas Nifty traded at 18,160.45 points, down 147.20 points or 0.80 per cent.
Among the Nifty 50 stocks, Adani Enterprises, SBI Life, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, and ITC were the top five losers, whereas Britannia, BPCL, ONGC, Axis Bank, and Hindustan Unilever the top gainers, National Stock Exchange data showed.
In line with stock indices, the Indian rupee too weakened this morning. It opened at 81.85 per US dollar as against its Friday closing of 81.69.
The rupee has relatively strengthened in most of the recent sessions against the global benchmark dollar as the US dollar index has weakened substantially. The latest weakening of the US dollar is a positive for other currencies.
In October, the rupee, however, breached the 83 mark for the first time in its history.
According to VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at brokerage Geojit Financial Services: "The optimism driven by the recent decline in US inflation has run its course and the market is likely to wait for further data on the direction of US inflation and interest rates."
"So, this is the time to play defensively rather than taking risky shots at the goal. Cautious defensive games can be a good short-term strategy," Vijayakumar added.
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities said Asian share markets turned hesitant on Monday as investors fretted about the economic fallout from fresh Covid-19 restrictions in parts of China.