Indian stocks fell the most in a month, with shares of delivery service Zomato dragging other tech companies down nearly a fifth of their value, as the specter of rising interest rates in the US United looms.
The Nifty 50 index of India’s largest listed companies fell more than 2% on Monday, its biggest percentage drop since Dec. 20. The S&P Sensex fell 2%.
The Nifty, which posted double-digit gains in 2021, has fallen 0.5% this year while Sensex is down 0.6%.
Tech companies have been among the hardest hit. Shares of Zomato fell 18%, extending its decline this year to more than 30%.
Shares of Nyka fell 10% to their lowest level since the beauty group listed online in November. Those on the insurance comparison site PolicyBazaar lost a tenth of their value while Paytm, the online payments provider, fell 6%.
India’s biggest companies were not spared: heavyweights such as Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries fell more than 2% even after reporting strong profits on Friday.
“The bullish case is that corporate performance is good, Indian companies have corrected their leverage very significantly,” said Amit Tandon, managing director of Institutional Investor Advisory Services.
But the “downside case” is in interest rates, especially if the U.S. raises borrowing costs, which will affect “the flow of cash to all emerging markets, including India,” a- he added.
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