Sensex tumbles 1000 pts, Nifty ends 300 pts lower; Finance, Bank, Auto drag

Benchmarks indices tumbled sharply by around 1.7% on Friday amidst negative global cues and several central banks hiking their interest rates.

Sensex shed more than 1000 points to close at 58,100, whereas Nifty tanked 300 points to end the week at 17,327.

Rupee also hit a new low during today's session as it breached the 81-per-dollar mark.

All indices ended in the red with Bank, Finance, Realty, Media and Auto contributing the most to the fall. Pharma remained stable and ended flat.

Among stocks, Powergrid tanked 8% and Hindalco and Apollo Hospitals shed 4% each. Divi's Lab and Sun Pharma were among the major gainers in today's session with each surging 1%.

Global stocks fell for a third day Friday after more rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to control persistent inflation spurred fears of a possible global recession.

Japanese market remained closed for the autumn equinox festival.

Otherwise in Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 1.1%. China's yuan finished the domestic trading session at a near 28-month low.

The Korean won slid to its weakest level since 2009 on Friday and Korean Kospi index tumbled 1.8%.

London and Frankfurt opened lower. Oil prices fell by more than $1 per barrel. Forecasts for the Stoxx 600 Index have fallen by about 5% in the past month, according to the average of 16 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

As sowing of kharif (summer) crops almost comes to an end, paddy planting continued to lag behind as sown area under this crop fell 5.51 per cent from last year to 401.56 lakh hectare so far, according to the agriculture ministry.

Besides paddy, there is marginal lag in sowing of pulses, oilseeds and jute/mesta. Consequently, the total sown area under kharif crops declined 1.24 per cent to 1,097.57 lakh hectares so far this kharif season, as against 1,111.36 lakh hectares in the year-ago period, it said.

Sowing of kharif crops had begun with the onset of southwest monsoon from June. Harvesting of some kharif crops has started and will be in full swing from October. (PTI)

Gold price in the national capital fell by ₹139 to ₹50,326 per 10 grams on Friday amid a fall in international precious metal prices, according to HDFC Securities.

In the previous trade, the yellow metal had finished at ₹50,465 per 10 grams.

Silver also fell sharply by ₹363 to ₹58,366 per kilogram from ₹58,729 per kg in the previous trade.

In the international market, gold was quoting lower at USD 1,665 per ounce, while silver was flat at USD 19.50 per ounce.

"Gold prices have capped downside despite of stronger dollar over recession worries as the US Federal Reserve committed to raise interest rates," said Tapan Patel, Senior Analyst (Commodities) at HDFC Securities. (PTI)

Logistics company DHL Express will increase the price for parcel deliveries by an average of 7.9% in India with effect from 1 January, 2023.

DHL Express said prices are adjusted on an annual basis by the company in line with inflation, currency dynamics and administrative costs related to regulatory and security measures. (Read More)

China's yuan finished the domestic trading session at a near 28-month low on Friday and looked set for its biggest weekly loss in five months, as a widening yield differential between the world's two largest economies continued to weigh on the Chinese currency.

The U.S. dollar strengthened in global markets, with benchmark U.S. Treasury yields hitting an 11-year high overnight, as investors positioned for more Federal Reserve interest rate hikes to tame high inflation after its latest hike this week. (Reuters)

The initial public offering of QMS Medical Allied Services Ltd is going to hit primary markets next week on Tuesday as the public issue is going to open 27th September 2022. The public issue will remain open for bidding till 30th September 2022. The company has fixed price band of the public issue at ₹121 per equity share and one lot of the IPO will comprise 1,000 company shares. (Read More)

India's palm oil imports could jump 23% in 2022/23 to an eight-year high of 9.5 million tonnes, as a rebound in consumption and competitive prices prompt refiners to increase purchases, the country's top palm oil buyer said.

"Palm is very attractive as prices are under pressure because of stocks," Sanjeev Asthana, chief executive officer at Patanjali Foods Ltd, said on the sidelines of Globoil conference. (Read More)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday encouraged companies, citizens, and state governments to focus on "green growth" and "green jobs" to achieve the target of net zero carbon emission by 2070. PM Modi added to achieve "green goals", the role of the environment ministry of every state is huge. (Read More)

The new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), scheduled to be announced at the end of this month, is expected to focus on enhancing the ease of doing exports from India, industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Friday.

The upcoming FTP is expected to be the key to defining the strategy for India to capture a significant share in the world economic system amid the changing global supply-chains, trade and investment dynamics, said Pradeep Multani, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

At this juncture, we expect the New Foreign Trade Policy to ease exports-centric trade with enhanced trade facilitation measures by the Government, he said. (ANI)

European economic activity fell once again in September, a closely-watched survey showed Friday, heightening expectations that a recession was coming.

"The Eurozone economic downturn deepened in September, with business activity contracting for a third consecutive month. Although only modest, the rate of decline accelerated to a pace which, barring pandemic lockdowns, was the steepest since 2013," the S&P Global Flash Eurozone PMI index said. (AFP)

Indian banks may be forced to compete harder to boost deposits amid tightening liquidity and rising credit demand ahead of the festive season, analysts warned. (read More)

Science and technology minister Jitendra Singh has said India is continuously working towards transforming the energy landscape of the country with significant clean energy share and aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2070.

Announcing the launch of ‘Innovation Roadmap of the Mission Integrated Biorefineries’ developed by co-leads and active inputs from Brazil, Canada, the European Commission, and the UK, SIngh said, by 2030, India aims to reach 500-gigawatt non-fossil energy capacity, shift 50% of energy requirements to renewable energy, lower overall anticipated carbon emissions by one billion tons, and reduce carbon intensity of the economy by 45% over 2005 levels. (Full Story)

India's palm oil imports in 2022/23 could jump 23% from a year earlier to 9.5 million tonnes, the highest in eight years, as a rebound in consumption and competitive prices prompts refiners to increase purchases, the country's top palm oil buyer said.

"Palm is very attractive as prices are under pressure because of stocks," Sanjeev Asthana, chief executive officer at Patanjali Foods Ltd said on the sidelines of Globoil conference.

Palm oil's big discount to soyoil is unsustainable and it is likely to narrow in coming months, he said. (Reuters)

A part of India's overnight indexed swaps curve, a gauge for future policy rates, may steepen as investors are pricing in a more hawkish-than-expected central bank stance, BofA Securities said on Friday.

BofA expects the Reserve Bank of India to raise rates by 25-35 basis on Sept. 30 and reckons the policy rate will reach 6.5% by end-2023, much later than what some investors are expecting.

The forward OIS curve up to 6 months is pricing in two 60-basis-point rate hikes over the next two RBI meetings, which would take the policy rate above 6.5% by December itself.

"Inflation and growth indicators (are) tracking below RBI's projections, increasing chances of disappointment in the next meeting," the research house said. (Reuters)

Bank and Finance indices are struggling the most, while IT remains stable. Rupee breached the 81 mark against the dollar for the first time

Himanshu Binani – Research Analyst, Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt Ltd

Rallis India (RALI IN) - Rating: BUY | CMP: Rs224 | TP: Rs250

We retain ‘BUY’ on Rallis India (RALI) with a target price of Rs250 (Rs230 earlier) based on 18xFY25 EPS even as we reduce our EPS estimates by 5.5% and 4.9% for FY23/24E on near term margin pressures due to high cost raw material inventory in 2Q23 despite 4-5% price hike in June’22.

RALI in their pre-quarterly conference call highlighted that (a) domestic crop care business likely to post subdued performance primarily led by tepid demand due to disproportionate rainfall resulting into lower pest infestation and miss in sprays; (b) exports at a better-off position led by improved demand scenario globally supported by better product and price mix, however have cautious outlook due to drought in US and European markets; (c) herbicides continues to outperform (to post double digit growth in 2Q) as compared to insecticides and fungicides category; (d) launched 3 new 9(3) molecules in 1HFY23 as against guidance of 4 product launches in FY23E, additionally launched 5 new 9(4) molecules in 1H’23; (e) crop nutrition business to post double digit revenue growth, aided by better product mix; (f) high cost inventory to exert pressure in near term, however remains confident to maintain absolute EBITDA led by recent price hikes. We expect revenue/PAT CAGR of 13%/18% over FY22-25E (vs 8%/3% over FY11-22). Retain ‘BUY’.

Mauritius-based foreign investment firm Eriska Investment Fund has bought stake in BSE listed micro-cap company Filatex Fashions Ltd. The foreign institutional investor (FII) bought 7 lakh shares of the company in a bulk deal executed on 22nd September 2022. As per the bulk deal details available on BSE website, then FII bought these shares at a price of ₹9.17 per share. This means, the Mauritius-based FII has invested ₹64.19 lakh in this penny stock. (Full Report)

Indian alternative investment funds (AIF) have continued their fundraising spree in the current fiscal after a record previous year, as investors bet that high interest rates and accelerating inflation won’t dim the country’s growth prospects.

In the quarter ended 30 June, AIFs raised commitments worth ₹53,162 crore, higher than commitments worth ₹35,967 crore in the year earlier and ₹32,267 crore in the preceding March quarter, Securities and Exchange Board of India data showed. (Full STory)

After the allotment of shares, allottees and market observers are eagerly awaiting the Harsha Engineers IPO listing date, which is most likely on 26th September 2022. Meanwhile, despite the weak trend in broader markets, it seems the stock is set for a strong listing. According to market observers, shares of Harsha Engineers International Ltd is available at a premium of ₹185, which is ₹15 above its Thursday grey market premium (GMP). (Read More)

As India's telecom department prepares for 5G rollout, the country's aviation security regulator--Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)--raised concerns over the evident interference of 5G C-Band spectrum with plane radio altimeters.

In a letter written to the telecom division as seen by The Indian Express, the DGCA said that the altimeters in addition to part of the 5G telecom companies function within the C-Band. (Read More)

Europe’s crippling energy crisis could extend through the end of 2023 as the region grapples with robust demand and a squeeze in supply exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to Energy Aspects Ltd.

“This is not a one winter story,” Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at the industry consultant, said in a Bloomberg television interview with Shery Ahn and Haidi Lun. Russia is needed to balance the market, not just for the upcoming winter, but potentially the following cold spell at the end of next year, she added.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended energy flows and rippled through global markets, driving up natural gas prices in Europe and forcing drastic measures such as Germany nationalizing its biggest importer of the fuel. Oil is expected to see further volatility in the fourth quarter, whipsawed by factors including concerns over a possible recession and China’s Covid lockdowns, Sen said. (Bloomberg)

The board of directors of Tata group has approved amalgamation of all metal companies of Tata group into Tata Steel. The company board in its Thursday meeting approved merger of its seven metal companies with its parent metal company Tata Steel Limited. Those seven metal companies of Tata group that will be merged with Tata Steel are Tata Steel Long Products Limited, The Tinplate Company of India Limited, Tata Metaliks Limited, TRF Limited, The Indian Steel & Wire Products Limited, Tata Steel Mining Limited and S & T Mining Company Limited.

Anand James - chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services' USD-INR outlook: The gigantic move expected in the last few days unfolded yesterday and far exceeded the 80.3 objective we had lined up. Ideally, the present move has room till 81.8. Downsidemarker may be placed at 80.7 for now.: 

India reported around 5,383 new covid cases and 20 deaths in the last 24 hours, the health ministry data stated on Friday.

The country’s active caseload has declined to 45,281, while total number of covid cases is more than 4.45 crore with 5,28,449 fatalities so far.

Rupee tasted yet another lifetime low on Friday morning after the US dollar index strengthened to a two-decade high this week, on hopes that demand for safe-haven currency such as the dollar would pick up.

This morning, the Rupee opened 25 paise lower from the previous session to touch a record low of 81.09 versus the US dollar, against Thursday's close of 80.86. Yesterday's depreciation was the biggest single-day fall for the rupee since February 24.

The US Federal Reserve had raised the repo rate by 75 basis points -- which is the third consecutive hike of the same magnitude, in line with expectations, which essentially means that investors will move towards the US markets for better and stable returns amid the monetary policy tightening.

The Fed also hinted that more rate hikes were coming and that these rates would stay elevated until 2024. (Reuters)

Sameet Chavan, chief analyst-technical and derivatives, Angel One Ltd: From a technical perspective, the crucial support of the 17500 was firmly safeguarded, implying the resilience of the technical support. However, some tentativeness was seen in our domestic market during the weekly expiry session. And as we advance, any sign of respite from the global bourses could trigger strong momentum from hereon. In terms of technical levels, any breach below the mentioned support could drag the market towards the 17400-17380 zone, which is likely to be seen as the sheet anchor. At the same time, on the higher end, the 17750-17800 could be seen as immediate resistance, followed by the 17850-17900 zone.

We would advocate avoiding aggressive overnight bets for the time being and keeping a close tab on global developments. Meanwhile, identifying the thematic movers should be the key to better trading opportunities in the current market condition.

Tirthankar Das, technical & derivative analyst, retail, Ashika Stock Broking Ltd: On the technical front, Nifty ended with a small positive candle on daily time frame resembling closer to a high wave candle pattern which indicates of a possible bounce back. However on an overall basis short term trend in the market might continue to remain consolidative amidst the broader range of 17350-18000 due to lack of faster retracement on either sides. The ongoing healthy consolidation has helped the index to cool off the overbought conditions (daily and weekly stochastic oscillator cooled off to 43 and 86, respectively. On the medium term perspective one can continue to have a positive outlook in the market as secondary corrections are a part of the bull market which would pave the way for next leg of up move. Though one need to avoid trading aggressively in the market but the risk of a bare minimum correction of 23.6% of the entire rally from 15,183 to 18,096 comes around 17415 followed by 38.2% correction at 16990 remains. During the day index is likely to open with a gap down, traders during the day should show patience and wait for Index to cool-off. As long as the all-important support level of 17350 remains strong, the medium-term outlook in the Index to remain positive.

Oil headed for a fourth weekly decline after a raft of interest-rate hikes around the world darkened the outlook for energy demand.

West Texas Intermediate futures edged toward $83 a barrel, with prices down more than 2% for the week. The Federal Reserve gave its clearest signal yet that it’s willing to tolerate a US recession as the trade-off for regaining control of inflation, while the UK, Norway and South Africa also raised rates.

Crude remains on track for its first quarterly loss in more than two years as concerns about a global economic slowdown weigh on the demand outlook. A stronger dollar added to bearish headwinds this week, making commodities priced in the currency more expensive for investors. (Bloomberg)

Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services said on Friday it expects repossession activity of vehicles to reduce temporarily a day after the country's central bank directed the company to stop using third-party services for loan recovery.

The company said it now expects the number of repossessed vehicles to temporarily go down by about 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles per month, from the 4,000 to 5,000 it repossesses in the normal course of business.

The company said it has not outsourced any collection activities in its vehicle finance business to any third-party agencies and does not expect any impact on collections in this business. (Reuters)

Indian Oil Corp plans maintenance at its 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) Panipat refinery in northern India, which includes a shutdown of a naphtha hydrocracker for about 80 days and half of its crude processing for about a month, sources said.

The country's top refiner will shut the naphtha cracker at its Panipat plant from Monday for a revamp aimed at raising its ethylene production capacity, the sources familiar with the plan said.

The cracker annually consumes about 2.3 million tonnes of naphtha and produces 857,000 tonnes of ethylene. (Reuters)

Solar Industries shares are one of the multibagger stocks in Indian stock market. Ever since its listing, the energy stock has been continuously giving stellar return to its shareholders. In last 15 years, Solar Industries share price has ascended from around ₹20 to ₹3,827 apiece levels, appreciating to the tune of near 91 times in this long term. (Read More)

A day after the rupee closed at its lowest level of 80.87 to the USD, Indian equities are likely to open almost 100 points lower at the opening Friday.

The SGX Nifty, which traded at 17536.5 as of writing, reflected a 93.5 point gap down by the benchmark Nifty when it opens at 9:15 am. (Full Story)

Ambuja Cements, Delta Corp, RBL Bank, Can Fin Homes, and Punjab National Bank will be under the F&O ban list for Thursday. These stocks will be under the ban for the F&O segment as they have crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit (MWPL), as per the NSE. (Read More)

Indian oil-to-chemicals conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd said on Friday it would invest $12 million for a 20% stake in solar technology developer Caelux Corp to produce more powerful and lower cost solar modules. (Reuters)

The Indian rupee is tipped to extend its decline to a new record low on Friday, on the back of Treasury yields climbing to fresh multi-year highs and dollar demand from importers.

The rupee is expected to open at around 81 per U.S. dollar, down from 80.86 in the previous session.

On Thursday, the local unit had suffered its biggest single-session percentage decline since February, due to lack of aggressive intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and a very U.S. hawkish Federal Reserve rate outlook, traders said. (Reuters)

Following weak global cues on rising dollar index, Indian stock market ended in negative territory on second straight session on Thursday. NSE Nifty finished 88 points lower at 17,629 levels whereas BSE Sensex slashed 337 points and closed at 59,119 mark. Bank Nifty index nosedived 572 points and closed at 40,630 levels. Vaishali Parekh, Vice President - Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher believes that market is rangebound but overall outlook is positive.

Vaishali Parekh of Prabhudas Lilladher has recommended two stocks to buy today and those two stocks are Titan Company and Hindustan Unilever. Here we list out important details in regard to these stock recommendations by Vaishali Parekh:

1] Titan Company: Buy at ₹2737, target ₹2830, stop loss ₹2690; and

2] Hindustan Unilever: Buy at ₹2692, target ₹2770, stop loss ₹2650.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint.

The board of directors of Tata group has approved amalgamation of all metal companies of Tata group into Tata Steel. The company board in its Thursday meeting approved merger of its seven metal companies with its parent metal company Tata Steel Limited. Those seven metal companies of Tata group that will be merged with Tata Steel are Tata Steel Long Products Limited, The Tinplate Company of India Limited, Tata Metaliks Limited, TRF Limited, The Indian Steel & Wire Products Limited, Tata Steel Mining Limited and S & T Mining Company Limited. (Read More)

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday 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. Addressing a press conference near Pune city on the sidelines of a programme, she said steps were being taken to keep inflation at a certain level. Replying to a question on rising prices, the minister 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." (PTI)

Conglomerate Piramal Enterprises witnessed a bull run on Thursday ahead of its board of directors meeting to consider a fundraising proposal to the tune of ₹750 crore on private placements. Piramal shares climbed more than 2.5% during the day. Analysts at Emkay Global have given a 'buy' rating on Piramal shares as they expect the company's loan book to almost double to ₹1.21 lakh crore by FY27E at a CAGR of 15%. Post the de-merger of its pharmaceutical business, the NBFC has a presence across both retail and wholesale financing and assets under management (AUM) of ₹645.9 billion. (Read More)

Gold has had a difficult decade. With a return of just 3.4% in rupee terms in the 10 years ending 16 August,gold investors have been unable to even beat inflation. This is highly unusual for the precious metal. A Mint analysis of 10-year rolling returns for gold (based on WorldGoldCouncil price data) shows it has delivered a 10-year return lower than 3.4% CAGR only 3% of the time if you look at data starting 1979-89.

With a return of just 3.4% in rupee terms in the 10 years ending 16 August, gold investors have been unable to even beat inflation. (Read More)

The Bank of England raised its key interest rate Thursday by another half-percentage point to the highest level in 14 years, but despite facing inflation that outpaces other major economies, it avoided more aggressive hikes made by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks.

It is the Bank of England’s seventh straight move to increase borrowing costs as rising food and energy prices fuel a cost-of-living crisis that is considered the worst in a generation. Despite facing a slumping currency, tight labor market and inflation near its highest level in four decades, officials held off on acting more boldly as they predicted a second consecutive drop in economic output this quarter, an informal definition of recession. (AP)

Air India has signed a sale and leaseback agreement with US-based Willis Lease Finance Corp for 34 engines to power 17 aircraft of the Airbus A320 family.

Under the agreement, Willis Lease will purchase from Air India 34 CFM56-5B engines to power 13 Airbus A321 aircraft and 4 Airbus A320 airplanes and lease them back to the airline. Willis Lease will also provide replacement and standby spare engines to Air India as per the agreement.

The rupee plunged by 83 paise -- its biggest single-day loss in nearly seven months -- to close at an all-time low of 80.79 against the US dollar on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve's interest rate hike and its hawkish stance weighed on investor sentiments.

Forex traders said the US Fed's rate hike and escalation of geopolitical risk in Ukraine sapped risk appetite.

Moreover, the strength of the American currency in the overseas market, a muted trend in domestic equities, risk-off mood and firm crude oil prices weighed on the rupee.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 80.27, then fell further to an all-time intra-day low of 80.95 against the American currency. (PTI)