Post Session: Quick Review

Indian markets went through roller coaster ride on Thursday and concluded the day’s trade in red amid weekly F&O expiry. Selling pressure magnified during last hour of the trade, as traders preferred to sell riskier shares. After two-day of winning streak, indices unable to hold their gaining streak on Thursday. Finally, both Sensex and Nifty settled below their psychological 63300 and 18800 levels respectively. Sector wise, heavy selling were witnessed in IT and metal and Oil& Gas counters during the day. Besides, the broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index ended with cut of over half a percent.

After making cautious start, markets turned volatile following overnight losses on wall Street and weakness in Asian counterparts, on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates following the hawkish remarks by US Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who reiterated the Fed is likely to continue raising interest rates in an effort to contain stubbornly elevated inflation. Markets added more losses in afternoon session led by selling in IT and Metal stocks. Traders ignored report that provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 4,013.10 crore on June 21. However, markets trimmed most of their losses in late afternoon session but recovery got fizzled out and indices fell sharply to close near intraday low points. Traders paid no heed towards report that Fitch Ratings raised its forecast for India’s economic growth to 6.3 per cent for current fiscal year 2023-24 from 6 per cent it had predicted previously. This is primarily because of a stronger outturn in the first quarter and near-term momentum.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as investors digested hawkish signals from Fed and ECB policymakers and waited for the Bank of England's interest-rate decision later in the day. Asian markets ended mostly in red with markets in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan closed for the Dragon Boat Festival. Besides, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell affirming that more interest rate increases are likely ahead. Back home, Union Minister Piyush Goyal has urged textiles industry to collaborate and partner for research and development (R&D) and innovation to jointly achieve greater strides in the textiles sector. He commended the industry for their enthusiasm to set up and expand businesses in the upcoming Pradhan Mantri Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks.

The BSE Sensex ended at 63,238.89, down by 284.26 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 63,200.63 and 63,601.71. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.07%, while Small cap index was down by 0.64%. (Provisional)

The top losing sectoral indices on BSE were Power down by 1.47%, Utilities down by 1.16%, PSU down by 1.10%, Telecom down by 1.05% and IT was down by 0.91%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 0.95%, HDFC up by 0.62%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.55%, HDFC Bank up by 0.48% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.37%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.46%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.35%, Tata Motors down by 2.05%, Asian Paints down by 1.98% and Power Grid down by 1.67% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings in its latest report has raised India’s Gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast by 0.3 percentage points to 6.3 per cent for current fiscal year (FY24) from 6 per cent it had predicted previously. This is primarily because of a stronger outturn in the first quarter and near-term momentum.

The Fitch noted that the GDP growth in January-March was higher than expected, adding that there has been a recovery in manufacturing, after two consecutive quarterly contractions, a boost from construction and an increase in farm output. In expenditure terms, GDP growth was driven by domestic demand and a boost from net trade.

The agency had in March lowered its forecast for 2023-24 to 6 per cent from 6.2 per cent citing headwinds from elevated inflation and interest rates along with subdued global demand. For 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years, it estimated a growth of 6.5 per cent each.

The CNX Nifty ended at 18,771.25, down by 85.60 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 18,759.50 and 18,886.60. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 0.98%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.91%, HDFC up by 0.51%, HDFC Bank up by 0.49% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.45%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.46%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.44%, Tata Consumer down by 2.12%, Tata Motors down by 2.07% and Asian Paints down by 2.05% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 59.03 points or 0.79% to 7,500.15, France’s CAC fell 84.46 points or 1.18% to 7,176.51 and Germany’s DAX was down by 79.75 points or 0.5% to 15,943.38.

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Thursday after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell affirming that more interest rate increases are likely ahead to contain stubbornly elevated inflation. Japanese shares declined by tracking Wall street stocks overnight. Although, Japanese central bank board member Asahi Noguchi said that the central bank had to maintain its ultra-loose policy in the near-term to ensure steady wage growth. Meanwhile, markets in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were closed for the Dragon Boat Festival.