Indian shares head for worst month in nine amid foreign outflows
Foreigners have pulled out more than $2 billion in July
New Delhi: Indian equities declined and the benchmark index headed for its worst month since October amid a sell-off by foreign investors.
The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.5 per cent to 37,686.37 at the close in Mumbai, its seventh day of decline in the past eight sessions. It has retreated more than 4 per cent this month. The NSE Nifty 50 Index slid 0.8 per cent to 11,189.20, extending its monthly fall to more than 5 per cent, the steepest since September 2018.
Foreigners have pulled out more than $2 billion in July, after the government’s spending plan earlier this month failed to excite investors, levying an additional tax on higher incomes. That has sent key equity indexes down more than 6 per cent from their record closes in June. Focus will now shift to the US interest-rate decision on Wednesday — with an expected cut of 25 basis points — and a local monetary policy meeting on August 7, with a similar reduction expected.