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PremiumSensex Today | Share Market Updates: Indian share markets recovered early losses and rallied in the second half of the day. The Sensex and Nifty were both up around 0.6% at close.
Markets in Australia, South Korea and China fell, while stocks in Tokyo traded flat.
European stocks dropped for a seventh day, heading for their longest losing streak since 2018, as economic data from Germany further added to worries over the state of Europe’s biggest economy, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, China's exports and imports extended declined in August as the twin pressures of sagging overseas demand and weak consumer spending at home squeezed businesses in the world's second-largest economy, although the falls were slower than expected.
The Sensex and Nifty ended higher for the fifth straight session on Thursday, with both the benchmarks gaining about 0.6% after recovering losses early in the day.
On the Nifty, top gainers included L&T, Coal India, IndusInd Bank and SBI, while ONGC, Tata Consumer, M&M, Sun Pharma, and Britannia were the worst hit.
All sectors except FMCG and pharma were in the green at close, and smaller companies continued to outperform blue-chip stocks. The BSE Midcap Index jumped 0.8% while the BSE Smallcap Index rose 0.4%.
Abbott India has recalled all batches of its popular antacid Digene Gel after customers complained about the product's taste and odour, according to various reports. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has cautioned against using the antacid produced at the company’s Goa facility. Abbott India's stock was down marginally on the news.
United Breweries Limited (UBL), part of the Heineken Company, has appointed Vivek Gupta as managing director and chief executive, effective 25 September, the brewer said in a filing to the exchanges Thursday. Gupta has spent over two decades in leadership and commercial roles at P&G.
Shares of Power Mech Projects shot up over 2.3% after the company told the exchanges that it has received orders worth ₹625 crore from Hindustan Zinc Ltd and Vedanta Ltd.
Shares of Castrol India gained 3.4% after a huge block deal on Thursday. Bloomberg reported that around 1.1 million shares of the company changed hands in a bunch of trades, but did not provide details of the buyers and sellers.
Coal India is trading at ₹272.50, up 16.70 points or 6.53%. The stock has a returned almost 14% in the past year.
European stocks dropped for a seventh day, heading for their longest losing streak since 2018, as economic data from Germany further added to worries over the state of Europe’s biggest economy, Reuters reported.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.4% in London by 8:23 am GST, with nearly of the region’s subindexes declining. Technology and basic resources sectors saw the biggest declines, while construction and materials fell less than the wider benchmark.
Tech stocks slipped after China looked to expand a ban on the use of Apple’s iPhones in sensitive departments to government-backed agencies and state companies. Apple suppliers such as STMicroelectronics NV fell in response to the news.
Ralhan said, "Indian bond yields have moved in tandem with their US counterpart. US bond yields have risen as the economy has held up well despite aggressive Fed tightening. Investors have priced out recession risks from the long end as they expect the Fed funds rate to stay at a higher level. This has put upward pressure on India's bond yields as well. The 10-year yield has held above 7.2%.
"An uptick in domestic inflation has also pushed yields higher. CPI came in at 7.4% in July, much ahead of the RBI tolerance band of 4 to 6%. This was largely due to higher vegetable prices, which the RBI expects to correct in the coming months. However, higher global oil prices and deficient rainfall in August have led to upside risks to the inflation trajectory. In such an environment, the RBI is expected to be cautious."
Larsen & Toubro expects the contribution from private sector projects to be at about a third of its orderbook as investment activity picks up, a senior executive said, according to Reuters. But the contribution is seen staying below the historical peak of 40%, CFO R Shankar Raman added.
L&T, seen as a bellwether for investment in the Indian economy, had a consolidated orderbook of 4.12 trillion rupees ($49.55 billion) as of June 30. Roughly 31-32% of this orderbook came from the private sector, up from 22-23% a year-and-a-half ago, Raman said.
China's exports and imports extended declines in August as the twin pressures of sagging overseas demand and weak consumer spending at home squeezed businesses in the world's second-largest economy, although the falls were slower than expected, according to a Reuters report.
While the trade numbers follow a run of other indicators showing a possible stabilisation in China's downturn, they remain far short of the growth economists anticipated earlier this year when the government abandoned its strict covid curbs.
Exports dropped 8.8% in August year-on-year, customs data showed on Thursday, beating a forecast of 9.2% in a Reuters poll and off a 14.5% drop in July. Meanwhile, imports contracted 7.3%, slower than an expected 9.0% decline and last month's 12.4% fall.
The Shanghai, Hang Seng indices slipped over 1% as markets across Asia remained in the red on Thursday.
The Sensex was up 9.57 points or 0.01% at 65,890.09, while the Nifty was up 3.30 points or 0.02% at 19,614.30. Tech Mahindra, HCLTech and L&T were among the top gainers.
Chintan Mehta, CEO of Abans Holdings: "Markets were surprised yesterday by the continued strength in the US economy. The ISM Services PMI expanded to 54.5, the highest level since March of this year. This has positively fueled economic optimism and aggravated concerns that the Federal Reserve will keep rates higher for longer.
"Global physically-backed gold ETFs have also witnessed the third consecutive month of outflows, shedding 46 tonnes valued at $209 billion. Gold has struggled to make headway in recent sessions as market participants have shifted their focus and positional bets towards the Dollar index and U.S. Treasuries. As a result, there is continued pressure on the yellow metal.
“Participation in gold has been decreasing as amid declining in gold prices. Overall participation continues to hover at lower levels, which sets the stage for an extended rally in gold once participation increases. We believe gold has become a favourable investment opportunity, at current price levels."
HCLTech said it has signed a multiyear managed public cloud services agreement with German technology powerhouse Siemens AG. Under the agreement, HCLTech will prioritise the automation of Siemens's public cloud environment. HCLTech's stock was up 1.2% at ₹1,250 on the news.
Share of Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Healthcare shot up 2.49% to an all-time high of ₹16,804 on the NSE.
Mid-cap and small-cap companies saw further gains on Thursday, extending their run of outperformance against blue-chip stocks. The Nifty Midcap 100 was up 0.41% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 was up 0.48% around noon while the broader market traded flat.
Shares of One 97 Communications, traded lower on Thursday after it was reported the company had dropped plans to enter the insurance business. According to a report by CNBC-TV18, Paytm has no plans to explore other financial services at this point and will focus on its core businesses — digital payments and loans.
Shares of the company were trading at ₹893 around noon, down 0.65%.
In anticipation of the upcoming festive season, gold is expected to see a surge in demand, according to Colin Shah, MD, Kama Jewelry. Despite a stagnant phase in gold prices due to economic challenges in the US, there's optimism that gold demand will surge, he said. This optimism stems from the robust performance of stock markets. The period from September to December traditionally marks an auspicious time, driven by festive and wedding seasons, boosting gold demand, he added.
Shares of Tata Consumer Products fell more than 2% in early trade on Thursday, a day after they closed over 4% higher. Earlier, the company denied a Reuters report from Wednesday that claimed it was in talks to acquire at least 51% of snack maker Haldiram’s.
Gold prices lingered near a one-week low on Thursday following five consecutive sessions of losses as the dollar sat atop mid-March highs after data showed the US services sector unexpectedly gained steam in August, Reuters reported.
Spot gold was steady at $1,919.68 per ounce by 0410 GMT, but still hovered close to its lowest level since August 29, hit in the previous session. US gold futures held their ground at $1,944.00.
The US dollar was perched at its highest since March 16 and the benchmark US Treasury yield rose after stronger-than-expected US services sector data on Wednesday suggested that inflationary pressures remain, the report said.
The rupee fell 2 paise to hit the lowest level of 83.15 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid a strong American currency and elevated crude oil prices. Forex traders said massive selling of equities by foreign investors in the past few sessions and subdued market sentiment also put pressure on the rupee.
Crude oil breached $90 a barrel after oil producing countries agreed to extend supply cuts until December, while the dollar strengthened on safe-haven demand.
India's top distributor of natural gas, GAIL (India) Ltd, expects to secure about 20% to 25% of its supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) on a short-term or spot market basis, its marketing director Sanjay Kumar said on Thursday, Reuters reported.
The rest will be via long-term contracts, Kumar told the Gastech industry conference in Singapore, adding that the company would tap spot markets to meet seasonal demand or volatility.
A total of eight stocks have been put under the ban for trade on Thursday, September 7, 2023 under the futures and options (F&O) segment by the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
The eight stocks are Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Manappuram Finance, BHEL, India Cements, Delta Corp, Hindustan Copper, Balrampur Chini Mills Limited, and Indiabulls Housing Finance. (Read more)
The Sensex was down 11.58 points or 0.02% at 65,868.94 while the Nifty was up 48.20 points or 0.25% at 19,659.20.
From Reliance Market Lens:
Nifty-50 continued its positive trend and closed above the resistance of 19,600 levels to recover in the last one hour of trading on Wednesday. It is forming former higher bottoms and higher tops reinforcing the positive stance.
The trend reversal levels will move higher to 19,400 from current levels. The intraday weakness and recovery in yesterday trade has improved the key technical indicators and has bounced from the lower range.
Highest call OI has moved to 19,700 strike while on the downside the highest put OI is at 19,500 for the weekly expiry.
Oil marketing companies including Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPLC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) saw a downgrade in their current target prices, a day after international crude oil prices sharply rose above $90 per barrel. Domestic brokerage firm JM Financials has maintained a ‘buy’ rating for BPCL and HPCL, however, it has given ‘hold’ for Indian Oil Corp Ltd (IOCL). The brokerage maintains a near-term cautious view on all OMCs given their marketing segment earnings come under risk if Brent crude price sustains above $85 per barrel and the OMCs are forced to cut petrol or diesel prices in the next few months. (Read more)
State-owned REC Ltd is looking at expanding its loan portfolio for green projects to ₹3 trillion by 2030, said its chairman and managing director Vivek Kumar Dewangan. Addressing the 54th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company, the CMD said that going forward REC would be known for its renewable energy initiatives across solar, wind, hybrid, and e-mobility projects, along with newer spaces like green hydrogen, green ammonia projects, round-the-clock projects and ethanol manufacturing. (Read more)
Zomato's efforts to improve its profitability have yielded results in recent quarters, but the fight to meet its goals is on. Lately, the online food delivery company has started levying a platform fee of ₹2-3 per order on its app on a pilot basis. The “small fee" has been introduced to “help us pay the bills so that we can keep Zomato running," the food delivery app’s order section shows. According to the company, the platform fee will apply to all customers. (Read more)
The Tata Group's consumer unit, Tata Consumer Products Ltd, has denied the report by Reuters that it is in talks to buy at least 51% of popular Indian snack food maker Haldiram's but is not comfortable with the $10 billion valuation sought. In a regulatory filing, Tata Consumer Products stated it was not in negotiations with the snack-food maker. (Read more)
Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. (RRVL) on Wednesday said it has signed a joint venture agreement to acquire a 51% stake in Ed-a-Mamma, a kid and maternity-wear brand founded by actor Alia Bhatt. The partnership will see the brand grow into new categories such as personal care and baby furniture, children’s story books and an animated series, RRVL said in a statement announcing the investment. The company did not give financial details of the transaction. (Read more)
Stocks fell again Wednesday, extending Wall Street's weak stretch this holiday-shortened week.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.7%. After two days of trading, the benchmark index has lost nearly half of its gains from last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite ended 1.1% lower.
Big technology stocks were among the biggest drags on the market. Apple fell 3.6% and Nvidia dropped 3.1%.
The latest pullback in stocks came as Treasury yields climbed following data showing the U.S. services sector remains strong.
The Institute for Supply Management’s latest survey showed that the sector, which employs most Americans, grew at a faster pace than economists expected in August. The sector is among the biggest pieces of the U.S. economy and it has remained resilient throughout 2023 despite persistent inflation and rising interest rates squeezing consumers. (AP)
