Sensex, Nifty tumble as HDFC Bank drags; GDP data awaited

Indian shares fell sharply on Friday ahead of December-quarter gross domestic product data, as a spike in global bond yields sparked a sell-off in world equities.

The NSE Nifty 50 index shed 1.65% to 14,849.15 by 0349 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex slipped 1.65% to 50,186.37.

Still, both indexes were on course to end the month with more than 10% gains, due to solid corporate earnings and a well-received federal budget.

Selling was across the board on Friday with financial stocks falling the most. Housing Finance Corp and HDFC Bank were the top two drags to the Nifty, slipping more than 2% each.

India’s economy was likely to have returned to growth in the December quarter, data due around 1200 GMT is expected to show. Economists polled by Reuters forecast GDP to grow 0.5% as the economy stabilised after contracting 7.5% in the July-September quarter.

Overnight, U.S. Treasury yields vaulted to their highest since the pandemic began, sending MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan 2.4% lower.