PremiumInvestors choose the wait-and-watch approach on Friday for the US jobs data report to get a clue on future rate hikes. All global markets including Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai shed on the Friday session. European markets were trading in red in the morning session.
Indian indices took a break from the record-breaking rally and shed in today's session as traders awaited the monthly US jobs report. Indices shed around 0.6% in today's session with the Auto index sinking the most.
Sensex tanked 415 points to close at 62,868. Meanwhile, Nifty dropped 116 points to end the week at 18,696.
Auto stocks contributed the most to the downward spiral with the index shedding 1%. Most sectoral indices ended in the red. Finance and FMCG were other major draggers. Media, Metal and Realty remained steady.
Eicher Motors shed more than 3% with Tata Consumer and M&M shedding more than 2%. Among gainers, Apollo Hospitals and Tech Mahindra topped the list.
Investors globally remained cautious on Friday ahead of key US monthly jobs data, which could offer cues on the Federal Reserve's stance on interest rate hikes.
Japan's Nikkei index closed at its lowest in three weeks on Friday, led by declines in technology stocks, while the yen's sharp gains hurt automakers. The Nikkei fell 1.59% and posted a 1.57% weekly fall.
China stocks closed down on concerns that the country's property sector is facing a prolonged downturn despite recent government support measures, while a reopening from years of strict COVID measures will be bumpy and uncertain.
The blue-chip CSI 300 Index lost 0.6% at the close, and the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and Hang Seng China Enterprises Index both ended lower 0.3%.
European shares were trading lower after two days of strong gain but looked set to notch their seventh straight week of gains amid easing worries of global monetary policy tightening.
Amara Raja Batteries Limited, industrial and automotive battery major, on Friday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Telangana to setup state-of-the-art research and manufacturing facilities for lithium-ion battery-making in Mahbubnagar district, Telangana. Over the next 10 years, the company intends to invest over ₹9500 crores, after necessary approvals.
The initial facilities would include an energy research and innovation center in Hyderabad, dubbed the Amara Raja E-hub. It will be equipped with advanced laboratories and testing infrastructure for material research, prototyping, product life cycle analysis and proof of concept demonstration, the company said. (Read More)
Sumit Pokharna, vice president - fundamental research, Kotak Securities Ltd: We believe Index valuation needs to be seen in conjunction with relative earnings growth potential. Nifty is trading at a PE of 19.8x on FY24E and 17.1x on FY25E earnings and Nifty earnings are expected to grow by 16.3% in FY24E and 15.5% in FY25E. Given lower crude oil prices, the expectation of inflation peaking and the expectation of slowing down of monetary tightening, we are positive on equity markets but given the higher valuation, a further rise may be muted. We can see multiple triggers like lower crude oil prices, lower fiscal deficit, higher government expenditure, pick-up in private capex, reformist budget and housing market revival which can support markets in the medium to long term.
In the recent rally, Mid-cap and small-cap indices, however, underperformed large-cap indices. So one can look at mid-cap companies having strong management pedigree, business moat, and strong cash flow, but due to short-term headwinds valuations have improved.
At this juncture, investors should focus on a stock-specific approach rather than just focusing on Nifty. Focus on quality companies in various sectors which have strong growth potential and valuations are reasonable. Just to highlight, IT valuations have become more palatable
India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki on Friday announced that the company has planned to increase prices across models from January 2023. The company said that the decision was prompted by continued cost pressure due to overall inflation and recent regulatory requirements.
"The Company continues to witness increased cost pressure driven by overall inflation and recent regulatory requirements. While the company makes maximum effort to reduce cost and partially offset the increase, it has become imperative to pass on some of the impact through a price increase. The Company has planned this price increase in January, 2023 which shall vary across models," said Maruti Suzuki in its regulatory filing. (Read More)
Sri Lanka, which defaulted on its foreign debt this year, seeks to avoid restructuring local debt, junior finance minister Shehan Semasinghe said.
The government aims to honor its pledge that only foreign debt will not be serviced and local obligations will be met, Semasinghe said in a phone interview on Friday.
Fitch Ratings on Thursday cut its rating on the nation’s local-currency debt to two levels above default, citing “untenably high" domestic interest costs and challenging financing conditions. A default would put at risk the nation’s financial sector, which owns most of the local bonds.
“The government is fully committed to protect the stability and integrity of the local banking sector and financial system," Semasinghe said. (Bloomberg)
Niti Aayog CEO Parameswaran Iyer on Friday said the food processing sector is critical for the Indian economy as well as job creation and stressed on ramping up production and exports of processed items.
Addressing a CII seminar here, Iyer said there is a need to encourage the MSME sector to enter the food processing sector, which he described as a very important sector for the health of the economy and people.
He underlined that food processing can boost farmers income and also help in achieving nutritional goals.
Iyer said there is a need to augment primary processing at farm level.
Stating that food security has become important in the current global context, he said the government has taken a number of steps in this regard. (PTI)
Japanese value retailer Daiso Japan has expanded its retail footprint in India with a new store in Mumbai.
Daiso Japan that sells lifestyle products, dinnerware, cleaning tools, stationery, gardening items, toys, and pet accessories entered the Indian market through an alliance between Apparel GroupIndia Pvt Ltd. and Lals International Holdings. The group plans to open over 50 stores in India over the next five years.
The brand launched its first store in Chandigarh, followed by Lucknow and Vasai in Mumbai. The store in Mumbai at Phoenix Marketcity Kurla is the brand’s fourth store in the country. (Read More)
Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited or TTML shares are one of the multibagger stocks that has given a whopping return to its positional shareholders in recent years. Even though this, Tata group stock has remained under sell-off stress after climbing to its lifetime high in January 2022, it is still among the stocks that have given stellar returns to long-term investors. The telecom stock has risen from around ₹2.50 apiece levels to ₹100 apiece levels in the last three years, delivering a 3,900 per cent return in this time horizon. (Read More)
The premiums on the Indian rupee are unlikely to fall much further, with current levels almost fully incorporating the U.S. and India interest rate differentials, analysts said.
The USD/INR 1-year implied forward premium plunged almost 50 basis points (bps) in November to 1.88% – its lowest in more than ten years – mainly due to the shrinking U.S. and India interest rate differentials.
The 1-year rupee overnight index swaps declined about 30 bps in November, helped by a better inflation outlook domestically that prompted traders to lower their expectations on the Reserve Bank of India's terminal rate.
On the other hand, the 1-year U.S. SOFR (secured overnight financing rate) linked swap inched higher in early November after the Federal Reserve Chair signalled a higher terminal rate. (Reuters)
Air India on Friday said 48 new pilots, who have completed their training, will start operating the airline's A320 fleet.
A total of 40 men and 8 women pilots have completed their training at Air India's training campus in Hyderabad.
In a release, the Tatas-owned Air India said its maiden batch of cabin crew trainees and significant batch of new pilots since privatisation, have graduated.
"The batch of 215 cabin crew and 48 pilots, all Indian nationals, received their wings following extensive training, and are now cleared to operate as fully-qualified crew," it said. (PTI)
Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann said in a TV interview with Bloomberg on Friday the embattled bank's outflows have basically stopped and that it is seeing partial inflows.
Credit Suisse has reported sharp outflows as wealthy clients move assets elsewhere, while the bank battles to recover from a string of scandals by focusing more on its flagship wealth management franchise and pruning back investment banking.
Credit Suisse, whose shares have plunged this year to record lows, is in the midst of raising 4 billion Swiss francs ($4.23 billion) to bolster its finances. (Reuters)
Today the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has given the firm final approval to market the Estradiol Transdermal System USP, 0.025 mg/day, 0.0375 mg/day, 0.05 mg/day, 0.075 mg/day, and 0.1 mg/day (USRLD: Vivelle-Dot® Transdermal System). The company said while making this announcement that Estradiol Transdermal System is indicated to treat moderate to severe symptoms of menopause which includes feelings of warmth in the face, neck and chest or sudden strong feelings of heat, hot flushes and vaginal dryness in women. The drug will be manufactured at the group’s formulation manufacturing facility at Moraiya, Ahmedabad, India. The organisation has filed over 431* ANDAs since the filing procedure began in FY 2003–04, and it now has 336 approvals. (Read More)
This year’s long list of crypto security exploits targeting decentralized finance has another unwelcome entry.
Binance, the largest digital-asset exchange, said Friday it’s helping to probe an attack on a token offered by the Ankr protocol. The token, aBNBc, is now almost worthless after trading at about $300 a day ago.
The aBNBc token had derived its value in part from a link to Binance Coin and was intended to give holders of the latter ways of earning returns.
About $123 million of assets are deposited on the Ankr protocol, according to its website. Ankr said it was working with exchanges to stop trading of the affected coin. (Bloomberg)
A small-cap company, Likhitha Infra, with a market capital of around ₹500 crore has hit a record high on the third day in a row. In fact, the small-cap stock backed by ace investor Ashish Kacholia has climbed to a record high in four out of the last five trade sessions. This week, this small-cap infra stock has hit a record high on all sessions except on Tuesday. Interestingly, the small-cap stock is trading ex-split today as the board of directors of the company has fixed 2nd December 2022 as the record date for stock subdivision in the 1:2 ratio. (Read More)
Shares of TVS Srichakra Ltd have outperformed by rallying more than 28% in the last month with the stock hitting its 52-week high level of ₹3,279 apiece that it had hit on November 28, 2022 on the BSE. The counter was trading nearly a per cent higher at ₹3,197 apiece on the BSE in Friday's early trading session.
The stock has given multibagger return of more than 101% in the last five months, by surging from ₹1,590 level to over ₹3,200 per share level recently during the period under review. TVS Srichakra shares have rallied more than 61% in 2022 (YTD) so far, as compared to over 6% rise in benchmark BSE Sensex during the period. (Read More)
Shares of NDTV have jumped more than 16 per cent since the Adani group launched its takeover bid for the media group, a rally that also comes at a time when bullish sentiments are dominating the broader market.
The diversified Adani group started off with a hostile takeover bid for NDTV by indirectly snapping up 29.18 per cent stake in the broadcaster and followed up with an open offer to purchase an additional 26 per cent shareholding.
On the BSE, shares of NDTV have gained 16.19 per cent during the period from August 23, the day when the Adani group announced the takeover bid, till December 1. In between, the scrip touched its upper circuit limit -- the maximum permissible trading level in a single day -- on multiple occasions.
With effect from the first of December 2022, Shri Malladi Venkat Murali Krishna took over as Executive Director of the Central Bank of India. He formerly served as Bank of Baroda's Chief General Manager before being appointed to his current designation. Head of Corporate & Institutional Credit -Large Corporate was his last position at Bank of Baroda.
Effective from the date of assumption of office on or after December 1, 2022, or until further orders, whichever is earlier, Shri Malladi Venkat Murali Krishna, Chief General Manager, Bank of Baroda, was appointed as Executive Director on the Board of the Bank for a term of three years, in place of Shri Alok Srivastava, Executive Director of the Bank, who retired on November 30, 2022. (Read More)
Despite geopolitical tension across the globe, Software Technology Parks of India is expecting a 10-12 per cent growth of IT exports from its existing 63 centres in the country this fiscal, STPI Director General said.
The value of IT exports from STPI centres was ₹6.28 lakh crore in the 2021-22 financial year.
"This year, we are expecting around 10-12 per cent growth of exports from STPI units," STPI Director General Arvind Kumar told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of Infocom 2022 here on Thursday.
The organisation, under the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, is supporting IT companies and startups by providing space and plug-and-play infrastructure across the country, and is in the process of adding 12 more centres, mostly in tier II and III cities. (PTI)
The European Union was edging closer to setting a USD 60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil — a highly anticipated and complex political and economic maneuver designed to keep Russia's supplies flowing into global markets while clamping down on President Vladimir Putin's ability to fund his war in Ukraine.
EU nations sought to push the cap across the finish line after Poland held out to get as low a figure as possible, diplomats said on Thursday.
“Still waiting for white smoke from Warsaw," said an EU diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were still ongoing.
The latest offer, confirmed by 3 EU diplomats, comes ahead of a deadline to set the price for discounted oil by Monday, when a European embargo on seaborne Russian crude and a ban on shipping insurance for those supplies take effect. (PTI)
After hitting a 52-week low of ₹557 apiece on NSE in July 2022, shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) have bounced back strongly from there onwards. The Indian Railway's PSU stock has been in an uptrend for the last four to five months and on the technical chart pattern, it has delivered a breakout at ₹720 per share level. However, the stock has retraced after hitting over ₹750 apiece levels — attracting the attention of the bargain hunters of Dalal Street.
According to stock market experts, IRCTC share price has made a double bottom formation at ₹720 apiece levels and it has given a breakout above this level recently on an hourly chart pattern. They said that IRCTC shares may go up to ₹930 apiece levels once it breaks the immediate hurdle placed at ₹770 to ₹780 apiece levels. They advised IRCTC shareholders to accumulate at current levels whereas one can buy the stock at current levels with strict stop loss at ₹700 apiece levels. (Read More)
India's Reliance Industries, operator of the world's largest refining complex, is snapping up Russian refined fuels, including rare purchases of naphtha, after some Western buyers stopped Russian imports, trade flows data from Refinitiv showed.
Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine have led to an emergence of rare trade routes for Russian crude and refined products that were mainly sold to European countries.
India imported about 410,000 tonnes of naphtha, used for making petrochemicals, in Sept-Oct, the Refinitiv data showed.
Of this figure, Reliance received about 150,000 tonnes from the Russian ports of Ust-Luga, Tuapse and Novorossiysk during the two months, the data showed. (Reuters)
Realty firm Godrej Properties on Friday said it has acquired 18.6 acres of land parcel in Kandivali, Mumbai. According to the company's statement, "The project will have a developable potential of 3.72 million sq feet (approx) with an estimated revenue potential of around ₹7,000 crore". The company informed exchanges that the development will comprise primarily premium residential apartments with supporting retail spaces. (Read More)
LKP Securities' Auto Roundup - November 2022: Volumes fall sequentially yet again, yoy growth looks robust
We believe November was sequentially low due to the high base of October despite a muted festive season. However, we believe the rest of the second half of the year to witness stronger growth in the PV segment as the chip shortage issue eases further and new launches on both the ICE and EV sides do take place. 2Ws shall further gain strength on the low base of last year, EV launches and good monsoon leading to better rural demand on the back of solid Rabi crop. CVs shall be back with their good run; however, increasing interest rates may act as a spoiler. Tractors shall report decent growth this year on good monsoon, Rabi sowing and improvement in the rural economy. We remain positive on the entire automobile sector. Our choice is in the following order - PVs, CVs and 2Ws. Stocks specifically, within the 2Ws, we like Hero Motocorp as we believe it is almost free from the exports weakness and is also led by strong monsoons barring a few eastern states, improvement in the rural economy and upcoming EV launches. We even like Bajaj Auto on its domestic strength despite exports weakness (which witnessed a recovery for the second consecutive month) and then TVS for its volume excellence and margin revival. While on the PV side, we like M&M because of its thrust on rural markets through its leadership in the tractors business, prudent capital allocation and robust growth strategy in UVs, EVs and CVs. We like MSIL second based on its huge order book and new launch pipeline. We like Ashok Leyland within CVs as it has a diversified revenue base deriving from LCVs, Defence, MHCVs, exports and spares. Tata Motors is seeing a strong PV business, along with a very healthy revival in CVs and improvement in the JLR business. Concerns are however around its JLR business. Every dip in the stocks mentioned above shall provide good opportunities for investors to enter into them from a medium to long-term perspective.
The rupee appreciated 18 paise to 81.08 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday supported by a weak dollar in the overseas market.
Forex traders said weak domestic equities and foreign fund outflows weighed on the local unit and restricted the appreciation bias.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.11 against the dollar, then gained further ground to touch 81.08, registering a rise of 18 paise over its previous close. (PTI)
Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services: A major market positive that has helped equity markets globally during the last several days has been the steady decline in the dollar index and US bond yields. This trend continues. The dollar index is now below 105 and the US 10- year bond yield is around 3.43 %. Another important data is the declining manufacturing activity in the US in November. This negative economic news is paradoxically positive news from the market perspective since it indicates that the US economy is responding to the monetary tightening by the Fed. So, US inflation is likely to decline further enabling the Fed to slow down rate increases and perhaps pause in Q1 of 2023. This is market positive. Back home, even though there is momentum in our markets, valuations are at elevated levels. The scope for further PE expansion is limited. Therefore, the market is likely to consolidate around the present levels.
Oil stocks are expected to trend today when the market opens for Friday deals. The reason behind this is Government of India (GoI) further reducing the windfall tax on exports of locally produced oil and diesel. This is expected to boost oil refining margins of the oil-producing companies that are in oil export business. So, oil stocks like Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Indian Oil Corporation Limited or IOCL, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited or HPCL, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited or BPCL, etc. are expected to remain in focus during Friday morning deals. (Read More)
China's consumer inflation is expected to be in a moderate range in 2023, People's Bank of China Governor Yi Gang said on Friday.
The central bank's accommodative policy will help support China's economic recovery, Yi said in a video speech to the Bank of Thailand-BIS conference in Bangkok. (Reuters)
The Odisha government said it has so far received 145 investment proposals worth over ₹7.26 lakh crore in the current edition of the business summit.
The Naveen Patnaik government signed 21 MoUs with various companies on the second day of the 'Make In Odisha' Conclave 2022 on Thursday.
The JSW Group alone committed an investment of ₹1 lakh crore in the state, an official said.
Odisha Industry secretary Hemant Sharma stated that the investment intents worth ₹7,26,128.45 crore, if grounded, would create employment opportunities for over 3.20 lakh people. (PTI)
STOCK IN FOCUS
Wipro (CMP 414): In view of strong deal wins and attractive valuation, we have a BUY recommendation with a target price of Rs455, valuing the stock at a P/E multiple of 18.5x FY24E earnings.
Intraday Picks
DIVIS LABS (PREVIOUS CLOSE: 3409) BUY
For today’s trade, long position can be initiated in the range of ₹3370-
3390 for the target of Rs. 3480 with a strict stop loss of ₹3330.
BHARTI (PREVIOUS CLOSE: 849) BUY
For today’s trade, long position can be initiated in the range of ₹835-
845 for the target of Rs. 866 with a strict stop loss of ₹825.
M&M (PREVIOUS CLOSE: 1293) SELL
For today’s trade, short position can be initiated in the range of Rs
1305-1315 for the target of Rs. 1268 with a strict stop loss of ₹1328.
After closure of subscription for Baheti Recycling Industries Limited, bidders and market observers are eagerly waiting for share allotment date, which is most likely on 5th December 2022. The public issue proposed for listing on NSE SME exchanged received strong response by retail investors as the public offer got subscribed over 435 times in retail portion. Meanwhile, following strong global cues after dollar index slipping to three-month low, grey market has remained steady on Baheti Recycling Industries Limited shares. According to market observers, shares of Baheti Recycling Industries Limited are available at a premium of ₹34 in grey market today. (Read More)
NSE has continued to keep Bhel, Delta Corp, Punjab National Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance stocks on the list of banned securities under the F&O segment for Friday trading as they have crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit. (Read More)
In cryptocurrencies, the world's largest and most popular digital token Bitcoin's price today slipped below the $17,000 mark was trading more than a per cent lower at $16,928. The global cryptocurrency market cap today remained below the $1 trillion mark, as it was down over a per cent in the last 24 hours to $887 billion, as per the data by CoinGecko.
The value of bitcoin peaked at nearly $69,000 in November 2021 before falling to around $17,000 by mid-June 2022, where it is still hovering now. (Read More)
The government on Thursday invited preliminary bids for the strategic sale of NMDC's Nagarnar Steel Plant.
The last date for submitting bids for NMDC Steel Ltd is January 27, 2023, while the last date for submitting queries is December 29, 2022, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said.
NISP is in the process of being demerged from NMDC into a separate company NMDC Steel Ltd (NSL). Subsequent to the demerger, shares of NSL will be listed on BSE, National Stock Exchange of India Limited and Calcutta Stock Exchange.
NSL will have a mirror shareholding to NMDC i.e. government of India (GoI) shareholding of 60.79 per cent and public shareholding of 39.21 per cent. (PTI)
After the closure of the subscription for the initial public offering (IPO) of Dharmaj Crop Guard Limited, bidders and market observers are eagerly waiting for the finalisation of the share allotment date, which is most likely on 5th December 2022. Meanwhile, following strong global cues and positive Dalal Street sentiments, the grey market has managed to remain bullish on Dharmaj Crop Guard IPO. According to market observers, shares of Dharmaj Crop Guard Ltd are available at a premium of ₹56 in the grey market today. (Read More)
RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar has talked about the reforms undertaken in financial benchmark administration in India as the LIBOR era is set to end. London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR) is the global reference rate for unsecured short-term borrowing in the interbank market.
Speaking on 'Financial Benchmarks in India: A Coming of Age', he said robust alternative benchmarks instead of LIBOR will promote financial stability by improving transparency in pricing and reducing information asymmetry. (Read More)
The Initial Public Offer (IPO) of engineering systems and solutions provider Uniparts India was subscribed 2 times on the second day of subscription on Thursday. The issue opened for public subscription on Wednesday and concludes on Friday, December 2, 2022.
As per market observers, Uniparts India shares are available at a premium (GMP) of ₹45 in the grey market today. The shares of the company are expected to list on the stock exchanges BSE and NSE on Monday, December 12, 2022. (Read More)
Vaishali Parekh of Prabhudas Lilladher has recommended two stocks to buy today. Here we list out full details in regard to those two day-trading stocks:
1] Piramal Enterprises: Buy at ₹863, target ₹8885, stop loss ₹850; and
2] SBI Cards: Buy at ₹834, target ₹860, stop loss ₹820. (Read More)
Centre has reduced the windfall tax on sale of domestic crude oil to ₹4,900 per tonne from the current tax of ₹10,200 crore.
A finance ministry notification on Thursday also said that the tax on export of diesel has been lowered to ₹6.5 per litre. The changes will come into effect from December 2, 2022. Along with the levy of ₹1.5 per litre of road infrastructure cess, the tax would now be ₹8 per litre.
When the levy was first introduced, a windfall tax on export of petrol alongside diesel and ATF too was levied. The special additional excise duty on aviation turbine fuel has been kept unchanged at ₹5 a litre. But the tax on petrol was scrapped in subsequent fortnightly reviews. (Read More)
The rupee appreciated by 4 paise to close at 81.26 against the US dollar on Thursday on broad dollar weakness after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell pointed towards slower interest rate hikes.
Forex traders said a fall in crude oil and a rally in domestic equities boosted investor sentiments while foreign fund outflows capped the rupee gains.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 81.08 and touched an intra-day high of 80.98 and a low of 81.32 against the greenback.
The local unit finally settled at 81.26, registering a rise of 4 paise over its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee closed at 81.30 against the US dollar, on month-end exporter dollar selling and MSCI rebalancing-related inflows. (PTI)
India's unemployment rate increased to a three-month high at 8 per cent during November, said a data by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) on December 1.
The CMIE further said that the unemployment rate in urban India was higher at 8.96 per cent, while in rural areas, it was at 7.55 per cent.
In October 2022, the urban joblessness was at 7.21 per cent and the rural unemployment rate was at 8.04 per cent. (Read More)
Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp is planning to sell a 5% stake in PB Fintech, the parent of online insurance marketplace Policybazaar, via a block deal on Friday, reported Reuters citing a report. Citi is the sole broker to the deal.
Tomorrow's block deal, through which Softbank is aiming to raise ₹1,000 crore, could be at a base price of ₹440 a share, at a discount of 4.5% to today's closing price, according to reports. (Read More)
Wall Street equities made little progress in Thursday's choppy session as investors digested economic data after a big rally in the previous session from U.S. Federal Reserve signals that it would slow its interest rate hiking pace.
The U.S. dollar index fell to its lowest level since August and Treasury yields sank after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that it was time to slow rate hikes. He also pointed to a protracted economic adjustment to higher borrowing costs and a slow decline in inflation as well as a chronic shortage of workers in the United States.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 194.76 points, or 0.56%, to 34,395.01, the S&P 500 lost 3.54 points, or 0.09%, to 4,076.57 and the Nasdaq Composite added 14.45 points, or 0.13%, to 11,482.45.
The S&P had rallied 3% on Wednesday after Powell's comments while Nasdaq had gained more than 4% and the Dow had risen 2%. (Reuters)
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