Sensex Extends Losses to Fourth Session

India’s BSE Sensex edged down about 0.1% to 72,434 on Thursday, extending losses for a fourth straight session as continued foreign investor selling weighed on sentiment, while easing oil prices offered some relief. Brent crude fell to around $98 a barrel amid developments surrounding US-Iran ceasefire talks. Foreign investors sold $1.06 billion of Indian equities on Wednesday, bringing total outflows over the past five sessions to about $3.6 billion. Meanwhile, US inflation rose less than expected in August, with the Federal Reserve’s preferred PCE price index increasing 3.4% year-on-year, below the 3.7% forecast. The softer reading lowered expectations for an October Fed hike, easing pressure on emerging-market assets. Among stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra (-2.3%), MTAR (-1.9%), and Cupid (-0.7%) declined, while Kotak Mahindra Bank gained about 2.4% after appointing Anup Kumar Saha as CEO for a three-year term, succeeding Ashok Vaswani when his term ends next year.