The Indian markets after a choppy trade ended lower in last session; every attempt of recovery was met with similar selling pressure. Today, the start is likely to remain weak on frail global cues and the benchmark index Nifty may test the 7600 levels after narrowly protecting it in previous session. There will be some support to the markets with the domestic rating agency India Ratings increasing its FY15 GDP growth estimate marginally to 5.7 percent from the earlier 5.6 percent, largely on the back of an expected improvement in the industrial activity. However, the rating agency has said that the government will not be able to meet its ambitious fiscal deficit target of 4.1 percent. There will be some buzz in the power stocks, as the Power Minister Piyush Goyal has said that gas-based plants in India are not viable because there is not enough gas in the country and Naptha-based plants produce costly energy.
There will be lots of important result announcements too, to keep the markets buzzing. Aarti Drugs, BAG Films, Bajaj Hindusthan, Birla Corp, Chambal Fertilizers, Corporation Bank, KEI Inds, NDTV, PC Jeweller and SBI are among many to announce the numbers.
The US markets turned lower again after a day of consolidation. The early gains on the back of an unexpected decrease in initial jobless claims in the week ended August 2nd, faded on speculation about the Federal Reserve raising interest sooner than anticipated. The Asian markets have made mostly a weak start with some of the indices witnessing cut in excess to two percent on growing fears that geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East would sap global growth.Japanese market was leading the losers list ahead of the nation’s central bank concluding a policy meeting today.
Back home, extending their previous session's southward journey, Indian equity benchmarks ended volatile day of trade in red terrain on Thursday with frontline gauges declining below their crucial 25,600 (Sensex) and 7,650 (Nifty) levels on the back of selling by funds and retail investors in the absence of any positive triggers. Sentiments mainly got dampened after Geo-political tensions aggravated after Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree banning the imports of agricultural products from nations that have imposed sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict. Immense volatility characterized trading whereby benchmark equity indices kept altering between green and red terrain throughout the session. Nevertheless, broader indices suffered brutal selling pressure, ending with losses of over half a percent. In the extremely choppy session of trade, selling which came during late hours of trade mainly led to second consecutive down-session of performance, otherwise recovery which crept in the second half of trading session hinted of a positive session of trade. Global cues too remained sluggish as European markets made a negative start, while Asian markets too ended in the red. Back home, selling in software and technology counters too dampened the sentiments. Stocks like, Infosys, Wipro, TCS and HCL Technologies edged lower, as the global technology major Cognizant Technology Solutions, despite posting June quarter earnings in line with expectations, scaled down its annual revenue growth estimate to be at least 14 per cent, against the earlier estimate of 16.5 per cent. On the flip side, stocks of companies associated with the railways rallied after the Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the proposal to allow 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in railway infrastructure. Additionally, shares of defence equipment makers remained on buyers’ radar after the Government increased the FDI investment limit in the sector to 49 per cent. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined by 76.26 points or 0.30%, to 25589.01, while the CNX Nifty lost 22.80 points or 0.30%, to 7,649.25.
