BENGALURU, July 1 (Reuters) - Indian shares began the second
quarter with heavy losses on Friday, hammered by Reliance
Industries and ONGC after the government raised taxes on fuel
exports.
The NSE Nifty 50 index dropped as much as 1.7% to
15,511.05, while the S&P BSE Sensex slid 1.74% to
52,094.25. The indexes on Thursday capped their worst quarter
since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Energy stocks sank in early trading after the government
raised taxes on exports of diesel, petrol, and jet fuel.
Oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries,
India's most valuable company, shed $19.35 billion in market
value as its stock plunged as much as 8.7%, marking its biggest
intraday slide since Nov. 2, 2020.
The Nifty Energy index fell 3.7% in its sharpest
drop since mid-May.
State-owned oil explorer ONGC and refiner
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical slumped 10% each,
while Vedanta dropped 7.6% to its lowest in 16 months.
The Nifty auto index slid 1.5%, ahead of
monthly sales data, while the Nifty Bank index fell
1%.
The rupee hit a fresh record low of 79.11 against
the dollar, versus Thursday's close of 78.97.
Asian stock market peers got off to a shaky start on Friday
as investors assessed risks to the economic outlook from
inflation and interest-rate hikes.
(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)