Indian shares end lower, rupee hits record low on global economic growth fears

Indian shares fell and the rupee hit an all-time low on Monday, weighed down by global economic growth worries due to tightening of lockdown in Shanghai and fears inflation could increase aggressive policy tightening from central banks.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.67% at 16,301.85 at close, while the S&P BSE Sensex  fell 0.67% to 54,470.67.

The Indian rupee tumbled to a record low of 77.52 against the US dollar earlier in the session. It settled at 77.465.

"Hawkish stance by the Fed (US Federal Reserve), rate hikes by the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) ... have created an atmosphere of risk-off for equities and we don't know how long this will last," said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services

India's benchmark indexes on Friday registered their worst week since November, dented by a surprise interest-rate hike by the RBI, foreign fund outflows and mixed corporate results.

"Even after Nifty's correction last week, it is trading at around 19 times FY23 earnings, which is higher than the long-term average and not a buyable valuation, particularly when global equity markets are facing headwinds like risk of slowdown in economic growth, Ukraine war and supply-chain disruptions caused by stringent lockdown in China," Vijayakumar added.

Shanghai authorities were tightening the city-wide COVID-19 lockdown they imposed over a month ago, prolonging into late-May.

In India, Nifty's public-sector bank, metal, energy  and fast-moving consumer goods sub-indexes were among the top losers, declining between 1% and 2.7%.

Reliance Industries reported a 22.5% rise in fourth-quarter profit. The conglomerate's shares closed 3.9% lower in its sixth consecutive session of losses, amid a weak Mumbai market.

Meanwhile, state-owned insurer Life Insurance Corporation's initial public offering, India's biggest, was subscribed 2.85 times on the last day of bidding as of 1003 GMT.