Indian equity benchmarks made negative start on Thursday as brent crude oil prices climbed past $96 a barrel mark after Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked Saudi oil tankers, escalating the West Asia conflict and rattling investor sentiment across emerging markets. Sensex and Nifty trimmed some of their opening losses and were trading lower with cut of around 0.35% each in early deals due to selling in all the sector indices as renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran strained a fragile ceasefire. However, downside remained capped amid private report that the US State Department said the proposed interim trade agreement between India and the United States is “almost complete”. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held wide-ranging talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Manila.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors balanced optimism over corporate earnings against mounting geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and another rise in oil prices.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76473.20, down by 281.85 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 76344.67 and 76566.93. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.
The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 1.09%, Healthcare down by 0.94%, Telecom down by 0.93%, Bankex down by 0.78% and Utilities down by 0.69%, while there was no gainer on the BSE sectoral front.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 1.08%, Trent up by 0.68%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.48%, HCL Technologies up by 0.22% and Power Grid up by 0.05%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 1.04%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.97%, Tata Steel down by 0.83%, Axis Bank down by 0.79% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.76% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, amid pressure on the Indian rupee, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monthly bulletin said the central bank was a net seller of $6.104 billion in the spot foreign exchange market in May. On a gross basis, the RBI purchased $22.229 billion and sold $28.333 billion during the month.
May marked the third consecutive month of net dollar sales by the central bank. The RBI had sold $9.758 billion in the spot foreign exchange market in March and $8.944 billion in April. The rupee strengthened in June, supported by lower international crude oil prices and improved foreign inflows following measures introduced by the government and the RBI.
However, those gains were reversed in July, in line with other major emerging market currencies, amid a strengthening US dollar. In real effective terms, the rupee appreciated in June against its major trading partners, driven by gains in the nominal effective exchange rate and higher domestic inflation.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23917.20, down by 79.05 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 23876.20 and 23952.00. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Eternal up by 1.37%, Hindalco Industries up by 0.94%, Tata Consumer Products up by 0.63%, Trent up by 0.61% and Shriram Finance up by 0.61%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.86%, Nestle India down by 2.54%, Adani Enterprises down by 2.08%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.97% and Tata Steel down by 0.95% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng jumped 353.34 points or 1.4% to 25,246.00, Nikkei 225 surged 338.4 points or 0.51% to 66,454.00, KOSPI rose 241.82 points or 3.44% to 7,039.52 and Jakarta Composite gained 51.11 points or 0.81% to 6,385.59. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted lost 313.73 points or 0.7% to 44,512.05, Straits Times fell 35 points or 0.63% to 5,560.42 and Shanghai Composite was down by 7.34 points or 0.19% to 3,859.69.
