Indian equity markets erased their losses and currently are trading near neutral lines with positive bias. Buying in metal stocks helped the markets to recover from losses. Traders took support after India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) eased to 12.41% in the month of August 2022 as against 13.93% in July 2022. Traders took note of report that Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said India is not defending the rupee and the Reserve Bank of India is taking necessary steps to ensure that the movement of the rupee is gradual and in line with market trends. Nageswaran further said that the rupee is being managed in a manner that reflects the fundamentals of the economy. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower on the heels of a day in which U.S. stocks plummeted after investors were surprised by a report showing stubbornly high price increases in August. European markets were trading mostly in red as traders lean toward another 75-basis-point rate hike at next week's FOMC meeting.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60638.23, up by 67.15 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 59417.12 and 60640.69. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.01%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.55%, Bankex up by 1.61%, Basic Materials up by 1.22%, PSU up by 1.03% and Power was up by 0.37%, while IT down by 3.18%, TECK down by 2.79%, Realty down by 1.20%, Capital Goods down by 0.63% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.56% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 4.98%, SBI up by 2.43%, Power Grid up by 2.36%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.20% and Tata Steel up by 2.09%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 4.43%, TCS down by 3.19%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.87%, HCL Tech down by 2.22% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.24% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) eased to 12.41% in the month of August 2022 as against 13.93% in July 2022. Inflation in August is primarily contributed by rise in prices of mineral oils, food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, basic metals, chemicals & chemical products, electricity, food products etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.
Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, increased by 0.62% to 178.6 (provisional) in August 2022 from 177.5 (provisional) for the month of July 2022. Prices of Nonfood Articles and Food Articles increased in August 2022 as compared to July 2022, while Prices of Minerals and Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas declined in August 2022 as compared to July 2022.
Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, declined by 4.83% to 157.6 (provisional) in August 2022 from 165.6 (provisional) for the month of July 2022. Prices of Electricity increased in August 2022 as compared to July, 2022, while Prices of Mineral Oils declined in August 2022 as compared to July 2022.
Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, increased by 0.07% to 143.2 (provisional) in August 2022 from 143.1 (provisional) for the month of July 2022. Meanwhile, for the month of June 2022 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 155.4 and 16.23% respectively.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18084.75, up by 14.70 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 17771.15 and 18091.55. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 4.94%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.57%, SBI up by 2.48%, Power Grid up by 2.31% and Hindalco up by 2.20%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 4.41%, TCS down by 3.18%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.90%, HCL Tech down by 2.03% and SBI Life down by 1.42% were the top losers.
All Asian markets were trading lower, Nikkei 225 slipped 796.01 points or 2.78% to 27,818.62, Hang Seng decreased 479.76 points or 2.48% to 18,847.10, Taiwan Weighted dropped 236.10 points or 1.59% to 14,658.31, Jakarta Composite lost 39.94 points or 0.55% to 7,278.08, KOSPI fell 38.12 points or 1.56% to 2,411.42, Shanghai Composite declined 26.26 points or 0.8% to 3,237.54 and Straits Times was down by 25.10 points or 0.76% to 3,264.98.
European markets were trading mostly in red, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 46.93 points or 0.64% to 7,338.93 and Germany’s DAX was down by 2.76 points or 0.02% to 13,186.19. On the flip side, France’s CAC was up by 0.43 points or 0.01% to 6,246.12.
