Bears tighten grip: Indices slide as inflation woes, FPI selling weigh

Nifty down 7.6% in May; over Rs 26-trillion market cap eroded

Relentless selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) continued to roil the stock market on Thursday with the benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices declining for a fifth straight day. The latest US inflation data, released on Wednesday, stoked fresh concerns about the Federal Reserve’s policy response, prompting investors to dump risky assets such as stocks and cryptocurrencies.

The Sensex fell 2.14 per cent, or 1,158 points, to close at 52,930, and the Nifty50 index dropped 2.22 per cent, or 359 points, to finish at 15,808. Both indices came close to dropping below their 2022 lows — 52,843 for the Sensex and 15,863