Post Session: Quick Review

Bears took full control over Dalal Street on last trading day of the week with Indian equity benchmarks -- Nifty and Sensex -- ending with a cut of above one and half a percent. Markets made negative start as traders were cautious with ASSOCHAM’s statement that India Inc is bracing itself for yet another policy rate hike by the RBI Monetary Policy Committee in the range of 35-50 basis points as the move seems unavoidable in the wake of the global monetary tightening to limit the impact of inflation. Key indices continued to reel under pressure even after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the government was making efforts to keep inflation under 4 per cent and steps were being taken to ensure people get essential goods at fair price and on time.

Selling got intensified in afternoon session after Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled annexation of parts of Ukraine adding to geopolitical concerns. In last trading hour, markets touched their intraday low point as traders remained unenthusiastic amidst unpleasant economic outlook and a surging dollar. This was because of increase in policy rate by the US Fed and Bank of England, and escalation in geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower dragged down by Credit Suisse and as an array of data pointing to an economic downturn in the region added to worries over a hawkish Federal Reserve. Back home, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh has said India is working to transform its energy landscape with a significant clean energy share. He, however, asserted the country will achieve net zero emissions by 2070. Besides, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net sold shares worth Rs 2,509.55 crore on September 22, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

The BSE Sensex ended at 58,098.92, down by 1020.80 points or 1.73% after trading in a range of 57,981.95 and 59,143.32. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index (Provisional).

The broader indices ended red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 2.28%, while Small cap index was down by 1.92% (Provisional).

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities down by 3.48%, Power down by 3.40%, Realty down by 2.97%, PSU down by 2.95%, Bankex down by 2.50%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE (Provisional).

The few gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.31%, ITC up by 0.78% and Tata Steel up by 0.68%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 8.25%, SBI down by 2.98%, Indusind Bank down by 2.82%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.81% and NTPC down by 2.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the government was making efforts to keep inflation under 4 per cent and steps were being taken to ensure people get essential goods at fair price and on time. She said steps were being taken to keep inflation at a certain level. On rising prices, she said ‘as far as inflation is concerned, I have been answering questions (on the issue) in Parliament every time they have been raised. Steps were being taken to keep inflation at one level, for example, duty on imported edible oil is being removed so that affordable oil comes into the country.’

She said the issue of inflation should be understood in global context. She added ‘America is experiencing the kind of high inflation which was not witnessed in the last 40 years. Germany is facing high inflation which was not experienced in the last 38 years. We are taking efforts to keep inflation under 4 per cent and efforts were being taken to ensure that people get all goods at fair price and on time.’

About the rupee hitting a record low against the US dollar, Sitharaman said the government looks at every aspect of the economy. She also said ‘Be it inflation, exchange rate. we are looking at everything’. Earlier, Sitharaman had said Mudra loans are given to eligible people without any security.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17,327.35, down by 302.45 points or 1.72% after trading in a range of 17,291.65 and 17,642.15. There were 5 stocks advancing against 45 stocks declining on the index (Provisional).

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 1.75%, Sun Pharma up by 1.44%, Tata Steel up by 0.68%, Cipla up by 0.58% and ITC up by 0.39%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 7.97%, Apollo Hospital down by 4.13%, Hindalco down by 3.82%, Adani Ports down by 3.47% and SBI down by 2.94% were the top losers (Provisional).

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 95.15 points or 1.33% to 7,064.37, France’s CAC decreased 45.87 points or 0.78% to 5,872.63 and Germany’s DAX was down by 119.52 points or 0.95% to 12,412.11.

Asian markets settled lower on Friday, tracking overnight losses in Wall Street on continued concerns about elevated inflation and the possibility of global recession following the US Federal Reserve's third straight 75 basis point interest rate hike on Wednesday. Chinese shares declined on growth concerns. Private report slashed its 2023 GDP growth forecast for China to 4.3 percent from 5.1 percent in light of ongoing Covid woes. Other private report downgraded its outlook for China to 4.5 percent from 5.3 percent. Meanwhile, Japanese market was closed for Autumnal Equinox holiday.