Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks witnessed bloodbath on Monday, with both Sensex and Nifty ending in deep red. Market made a negative start, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed that the country's foreign exchange reserves fell $6.687 billion to $564.053 billion in the week ended August 19. In the previous week ended August 12, the reserves declined $2.238 billion to $570.74 billion. Sentiments got hit as US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s signal that the central bank will raise interest rates further to battle inflation.

Selling pressure continued over the Dalal Street during the entire trading session, on the back of negative cues from the global markets. Sentiments remained pessimistic, as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra has said that in the near-term, inflation trajectory continues to be ‘heavily contingent’ upon the evolving geopolitical developments, international commodity prices and global financial sector developments.

Adding more worries among traders, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its latest report for July 2022 has said that as many as 386 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of more than Rs 4.7 lakh crore. According to the Ministry, which monitors infrastructure projects of Rs 150 crore and above, out of 1,505 projects, 386 reported cost overruns and as many as 661 projects were delayed.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as comments from central bank policymakers heightened fears of aggressive measures to stamp out inflation amid rising risks of a recession. Asian markets settled mostly lower, even after Japan's leading index declined less than initially estimated in June. The final data from the Cabinet Office showed that the leading index, which measures future economic activity, fell to 100.9 in June from 101.2 in May.

The BSE Sensex ended at 57972.62, down by 861.25 points or 1.46% after trading in a range of 57367.47 and 58208.30. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.80%, while Small cap index down by 0.57%. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.35%, Oil & Gas up by 0.19% and Energy up by 0.08%, while IT down by 3.34%, TECK down by 3.14%, Bankex down by 1.87%, Metal down by 1.69% and Realty down by 1.30% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.30%, Asian Paints up by 0.61%, Nestle up by 0.52%, ITC up by 0.24% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.20%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 4.57%, Infosys down by 3.93%, Wipro down by 3.06%, HCL down by 2.98% and TCS down by 2.73% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, calling for linking Start-Ups with Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said that the Government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking all measures including necessary policy changes to strengthen the MSME.

Singh further noted that this sector has played an important role in shaping the Atma Nirbhar Bharat, adding that the government has substantially increased the budget in the last eight years to strengthen the MSME sector. The Minister also said that the government is encouraging unique local products to reach the global markets and, in the process, strengthening the Indian economy.

Jitendra Singh also said that young entrepreneurs are now quitting their jobs in the IT sector and MNCs to establish their own startups, as these young entrepreneurs are now beginning to realise that investing in agriculture is one of the very few safe and profitable businesses.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17312.90, down by 246.00 points or 1.40% after trading in a range of 17166.20 and 17380.15. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia up by 1.58%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.30%, Apollo Hospital up by 0.86%, Nestle up by 0.61% and Asian Paints up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 4.61%, Infosys down by 3.93%, Wipro down by 3.09%, HCL down by 2.98% and TCS down by 2.78% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 52.43 points or 0.7% to 7,427.31, France’s CAC decreased 105.91 points or 1.69% to 6,168.35 and Germany’s DAX was down by 175.81 points or 1.36% to 12,795.66.

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Monday tracking weakness in US stocks, while US dollar index touched a 20-year high after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated high interest rates would continue for some time to curb inflation. Powell’s hawkish comments have raised chances of another 75-basis points interest rate hike for the third straight month in its upcoming September 20 - 21 policy meeting, taking the rate to a range of 3.75 - 4 percent by the end of the year. Although, Chinese shares gained as the Chinese currency yuan weakened against the US dollar. Official Chinese data showed that profits of China industrial firms had fallen by 1.1 percent from January to July, from a year earlier.