Fresh concerns about the spread of Covid-19 from China unnerved investors, dragging Asian stocks lower in trade. Australian shares fell and contracts for equity benchmarks in Japan, Singapore and Taiwan dropped.
US shares were lower for a second day on Wednesday after, the S&P 500 slid 1.2% to the lowest level in more than a month. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed and the dollar strengthened.
The crude also fell, declining 1.7%, whereas gold futures dipped 0.8%. Bitcoin declined 0.5% to trade around $16,600-level.
Indian benchmark indices snapped their two-day rally to close in the red, tracking weak performance of their Asian peers.
Overseas investors in Indian equities remained net sellers for the fourth day in a row on Wednesday. Foreign portfolio investors offloaded equities worth Rs 872.6 crore, while the domestic institutional investors remained net buyers for the 16th day in a row and mopping up stocks worth Rs 372.9 crore, according to NSE data.
The rupee closed mostly flat against the U.S. dollar with support from softening crude prices.
At 6:21 a.m., the Singapore-traded SGX Nifty — an early barometer of India’s benchmark Nifty 50 — fell 0.39% to 18,066.5.
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