Indian shares fall as inflation fears loom on oil surge

Indian shares fell on Monday, dragged by metals, banks and tech stocks, while fears of a possible drop in global crude output rekindled worries of inflation intensifying in the world's third largest oil importing country.

The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) fell 0.8% to 16,968.05 as of 0528 GMT and the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) was down 0.8% at 56,966.83.

The metals index (.NIFTYMET) fell 1.2%, while the IT index (.NIFTYIT) and bank index (.NSEBANK) dropped 1%, each.

"A few things like crude prices moving higher are coming in as negatives. These are keeping markets a little volatile," said AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital.

"We are entering the earnings season and the provisional numbers from companies are fantastic. One has to be very stock specific in the market," Prabhakar said.

Federal Bank (FED.NS) on Sunday reported a 10% year-on-year jump in total deposits for the September quarter, while gross advances surged 19.4%

Oil prices rose more than 3% in early Asian trade on Monday, as OPEC+ considers cutting output by more than 1 million barrels a day for its biggest reduction since the pandemic, in a bid to support the market.

Rising crude prices heats up inflation in large oil consuming countries such as India. Globally central banks are resorting to hefty rate hikes to tackle inflation.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers last week, having sold 15.65 billion Indian rupees ($192 million) worth of equities on Friday, as per provisional data available with the National Stock Exchange.

Shares of Oil & Natural Gas (ONGC.NS) rose over 5% after the government raised prices of locally produced gas and cut a windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil.

City gas distributors Mahanagar Gas (MGAS.NS), Indraprastha Gas (IGAS.NS) and Gujarat Gas (GGAS.NS) fell up to 3.9% each due to the hike in gas prices.

ONGC was the top gainer in Nifty 50 index, while Hindalco Industries (HALC.NS) the biggest loser, falling 2.5%.