by admin | May 25, 2021 | Banking, Economy, Markets, News
Mumbai : Depreciation in the Indian rupee and domestic political uncertainty subdued the key Indian equity indices on Thursday.
In a major development, the rupee breached the 69 per dollar mark during the day, eroding investor sentiments in the equity market.
According to market analysts, decline in the major global markets also weighed on the Indian indices.
Index-wise, the wider Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 10,957.10 points, lower by 23.35 points and 0.21 per cent from the previous close of 10,980.45 points.
The barometer 30-scrip BSE Sensex, which had opened at 36,509.08 points, closed at 36,351.23 points — lower by 22.21 points or 0.06 per cent — from its previous session’s close of 36,373.44 points.
It touched an intra-day high of 36,515.58 points and a low of 36,279.33 points. The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,802 declines against 791 advances.
“Market was range bound with a negative bias due to weakening rupee on account of surge in dollar index and ongoing trade spat,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
The rupee ended at 69.05 per dollar, weakening by 42 paise, from the previous close of 68.63 per greenback.
Nair further said that global cues are not clearly supporting domestic market direction and trade tensions between the US and other major economies are keeping investors on edge.
HDFC Securities’ Head of Retail Research at Deepak Jasani said investors seemed to be “cautious ahead of a parliament debate on Friday, July 20, 2018 about a no-confidence motion” against the current NDA government.
Investment-wise, provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrip worth just Rs 315.69 crore and the domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 470.02 crore.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE consumer durables index gained the most, by 194 points, followed by the FMCG index, up 58.32 points and the energy rose by 27.30 points.
On the contrary, the S&P BSE capital goods index declined by 316.94 points, the healthcare index was down 170.96 points and the banking index fell by 115.35 points.
The major gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel, up 2.45 per cent at Rs 345.05; Vedanta, up 2.21 per cent at Rs 208.30; Yes Bank, up 1.93 per cent at Rs 391.20; ITC, up 1.71 per cent at Rs 272.90; and Adani Ports, up 1.39 per cent at Rs 369.15 per share.
The top losers were Kotak Mahindra Bank, down 3.69 per cent at Rs 1,350.25; Larsen and Toubro, down 2.61 per cent at Rs 1,255.55; Hero MotoCorp, down 1.22 per cent at Rs 3,458.90; Tata Steel, down 0.98 per cent at Rs 499.75; and Coal India, down 0.95 per cent at Rs 261.50 per share.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Banking, Economy, Markets, News
Mumbai : Key Indian equity indices on Friday witnessed the steepest fall since November 2016, on the back of escalating geo-political tensions between North Korea and the US, a weak rupee and heavy selling pressure in capital goods, metal and banking stocks.
Market observers pointed out that investors’ sentiments were hampered by a likely US rate-hike in December which was signalled by the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday night. The move can potentially lead foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) away from emerging markets such as India.
Besides, investors remained cautious about the government’s plans for a stimulus programme which might lead to fiscal deficit.
The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) slipped below the psychologically important 10,000-points-mark, to close at 9,964.40 points — down 157.50 points or 1.56 per cent.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, too, plunged by 447.60 points, or 1.38 per cent, to end below its psychologically important 32,000-points-level at 31,922.44 points.
“The main indices — NSE Nifty50 and BSE Sensex — fell steeply during the day’s trade. This was the largest fall for both the indices on an intra-day and overall closing basis since November 11, 2016,” Deepak Jasani, Head – Retail Research, HDFC Securities told IANS.
“The weakness came on the back of geo-political tensions as North Korea threatened that it could consider testing a nuclear weapon in the Pacific.”
According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, concerns over the government’s plan for a stimulus to halt the economic slowdown — which might lead to fiscal deficit — eroded investors risk-taking appetite.
“In view of the economic slowdown, the government is reported to be open to allowing the fiscal deficit to exceed this year’s target as it considers a stimulus package in the range of Rs 40,000-50,000 crore by way of increased spending,” Desai told IANS.
In terms of the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index tanked by 2.71 per cent and the small-cap index by 2.93 per cent.
In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold scrips worth Rs 1,241.73 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased stocks worth Rs 521.17 crore.
“The rupee fell sharply today to breach the 65-mark against the US dollar but recovered later. The rupee fell to a nearly six-month low of 65.14 against the US dollar — its lowest since April this year,” Desai added.
During the day, the rupee closed at 64.79-80 against the US dollar.
Sector-wise, all the 19 sub-indices of the BSE closed in the red, led by capital goods (down 603.52 points), metals (down 554.26 points) and banking (down 526.84 points) indices.
Major Sensex gainers on Friday were: Wipro, up one per cent at Rs 294.05, and Coal India, up 0.12 per cent at Rs 253.90.
Major Sensex losers were: Tata Steel, down 4.70 per cent at Rs 654.55; Larsen and Toubro, down 3.49 per cent at Rs 1,184.90; Reliance Industries, down 2.83 per cent at Rs 817.50; ICICI Bank, down 2.77 per cent at Rs 277.10; and Hero MotoCorp, down 2.59 per cent at Rs 3,788.15.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Finance, News
Rupees five hundred
Mumbai:(IANS) Even after the government denied there were any plans to devalue the Indian rupee to shore-up exports, the currency on Thursday fell to its lowest level in the last two weeks at 67.02.
The denial came after a business news channel’s report claimed that the Commerce Ministry planned to propose a round of rupee devaluation to shore-up dwindling exports.
The news report on the proposed devaluation dragged the Indian rupee to 67.07 against a US dollar on Thursday morning, after the currency made some substantial gains and touched an intra-day high of 66.82.
“Dollar/Rupee made a sharp U-turn mid-day as rumours of ‘policy driven’ devaluation made rounds in media outlets,” Anindya Banerjee, Associate Vice President for Currency Derivatives with Kotak Securities, told IANS.
Other currency market observers pointed out that soon after the rupee’s plunge, the country’s central bank intervened. This resulted in rupee paring its early losses.
However, the currency remained volatile and ended the day’s trade on a weak note. The rupee depreciated by 12 paise to 67.02 against a US dollar from its previous close of 66.90 to a greenback.
“Rupee closed weaker as strong US dollar overseas and talk of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) intervention in local markets kept rupee under pressure,” Banerjee said.
On Wednesday, the rupee had strengthened by two paise to 66.90 against a US dollar from its previous close of 66.92 to a greenback on Monday.
Commerce Minister Sitharaman said that she did not make any comment on devaluation of the Indian rupee.
“I had no conversation on devaluation of any currency with any news correspondent,” Commerce and Industry Minister Sitharaman said in a tweet.
“Any quotes/mentions referring to me on this topic baseless.”
On its part, Finance Ministry said that the value of rupee is determined by the market forces and that there were no plan to change this policy.
“Reports that the government wants to devalue the rupee are false,” Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters.
Banerjee added that: “We find little substance in the news as rupee remains a market-driven exchange rate, and unlike currencies which are pegged, like Chinese Yuan, it is not easy to devalue or appreciate a currency as per the whims and fancies of the policy-makers.”
Even the stock markets were impacted by the rupee’s sudden fall. Both the key indices closed on a flat-to-positive note after a volatile session of trade.
According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, the CNX Nifty traded with sideways sentiments throughout the session on short covering and volatile USD/INR futures prices.
“Firm USD/INR futures prices pressurised the nifty price movement throughout the session,” Desai said.
