Indices end deep in red; Sensex below 58k; Nifty sheds 250 pts; IT, Bank drag

Indian benchmark indices along with its Asian peers reacted sharply to Fed's hint at future interest rate hikes and bled more than a per cent on Monday.

Sensex dropped 861 points to close at 57,972 and Nifty shed almost 250 points to finish at 17,312.

IT index witnessed an overall loss of 3.5%. Bank and Metal also slipped by considerable margins to close in the red.

FMCG was the only index which remained somewhat stable throughout the session and ended with a gain of 0.5%.

Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech featured among the biggest droppers, while Britannia and Maruti gained more than a per cent.

Rupee slipped below ₹80 per dollar in today's session.

Asian market closed mostly lower tracking Friday's losses on Wall Street after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said tight US monetary policy would be needed "for some time" to tame inflation.

Japan's Nikkei share average slumped to its lowest close in two weeks on Monday. The Nikkei ended 2.66% lower with 202 stocks of the 225 constituents down.

China had a mixed day with Shanghai Composite Index edging up by 0.1% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.7%.

European shares dropped sharply on Monday while bond yields surged as comments from ECB policymakers heightened fears of aggressive measures to stamp out inflation amid rising risks of a recession.

Aurobindo Pharma on Monday said the US health regulator has issued one observation after inspecting a plant owned by its US-based unit.

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) conducted its Pre-Approval Inspection (PAl) and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) inspection from August 22-26 of Raleigh-based plant which has been set up for manufacturing MOl (Metered Dose Inhalers) and derma products, the Hyderabad-based drug firm said in a regulatory filing.

The plant is owned by Aurolife Pharma LLC, a wholly-owned step down subsidiary of the company, it added. (PTI)

Vodafone Idea has denied alleged data leak of more than 20 million customers. A report by cyber security research firm CyberX9 claimed that call data records of around 20 million customers of Vodafone Idea (Vi) were leaked and accessed by cyber-criminals. The telco said that there was no data breach and the report is “false and malicious".

In its report, the cyber security research firm claimed that the call data records of 20.6 million postpaid Vodafone Idea customers were leaked due to vulnerabilities in the company’s systems. It further claimed that data leaked included call time, duration of the call, from where the call was made, full name of the subscriber, address SMS details and roaming details. (Full Report)

“The Indian markets are following the movement of global markets after the hawkish US Fed President's speech at Jackson Hole. On the ECB front, too, there are now rumors that the Sept 2022 policy might see a 75 bps interest rate increase along with QT, which is also adding to the pressure. With terminal rate expectations in the US topping 4%, we believe that the near-term volatility might increase in the equity markets, even though global economic indicators might weaken since the US Fed indicated a willingness to pursue further tightening for a longer period to slay inflation, leading to slower growth and higher unemployment. Investors with a long-term view should utilize the increased volatility to increase exposure to equities. Traders can be on the sidelines till stability is restored.”

- Fastest ever 5G roll-out plan by Jio

- Key cities will include -- Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata

- By December 2023, Jio will be delivered 5G to every town, tehsil of the country

The economic activity in India is in recovery mode as growth seen broad basing with most sectors operating at pre-pandemic levels, a joint survey conducted by industry body FICCI and Indian Banks' Association revealed. The uptick in growth was despite a muted start to this year due to emergence of Omicron variant.

The 15th round of the FICCI-IBA survey was carried out for the period January to June 2022 where a total of 25 banks including public sector, private sector and foreign banks participated.

"The contact-based services sector, which was most severely impacted by the pandemic waves, is also seen gaining traction," it said

The survey findings showed that long-term credit demand has been growing for sectors such as infrastructure, chemicals, food processing, metals, iron and steel and petroleum products.  (ANI)

Shares of Tejas Networks and Indian Bank have given stellar return to its shareholders in recent months. In fact, these are one of the high yielding stocks that Indian stock market has produced in year-to-date time. Tejas Networks shares, which is now a Tata group stock has given strong 40 per cent return in year-to-date (YTD) time whereas Indian Bank share price has appreciated to the tune of 35 per cent in 2022. However, Ventura Securities sees more upside in these stocks. The brokerage believes that Indian Bank shares may go up to ₹400 apiece levels whereas Tejas Networks share price may ascend up to ₹850 apiece levels from current levels. (Read More)

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has requested the visiting IMF team to focus on protecting economically vulnerable groups in the debt-ridden island nation which is going through the worst economic crisis.

Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades. The crisis that has left millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials.

The island nation is currently scrambling to chalk out a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout programme, which could be the antidote for the country’s current economic travails.

Prime Minister Gunawardena has requested the IMF to focus on protecting economically vulnerable groups in the country, Colombo Page news portal reported on Sunday. (PTI)

The Rouse Avenue District Court of Delhi on Monday dismissed the bail petition of former National Stock Exchange (NSE) CEO Chitra Ramkrishna, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate(ED).

Special Judge Sunena Sharma today decided to dismiss the bail petition of Chitra Ramkrishna. Earlier the Court had refused to grant bail to the former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey in the same case. (Full Story)

Reliance AGM 2022 Live Updates: 5G rollout, succession plan in focus in Mukesh Ambani's big speech

Electrical and automation major ABB India on Monday said it has expanded and upgraded its smart power factory in Nelamangala, Bengaluru, to meet the strong demand growth for its solutions.

The smart facility harnesses advanced collaborative robotics technology for better human-machine interface, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced digitalization technologies to create a sophisticated, automated, and flexible future-ready factory, ABB India said in a statement.

The facility caters to the increasing demand across sectors including commercial and residential buildings, infrastructure, utility and renewable energy systems of solar, wind and many others where electricity is consumed, it said. (PTI)

L&T Technology Services Ltd., a leading global pure-play engineering services company, on Monday said it has won a five-year, multimillion-dollar deal from European luxury vehicle maker BMW Group to provide high end engineering services for the company’s suite of infotainment consoles targeted for its family of hybrid vehicles. (Read More)

European shares dropped sharply on Monday while bond yields surged as comments from central bank policymakers heightened fears of aggressive measures to stamp out inflation amid rising risks of a recession.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.8% to a more than one-month low, with rate-sensitive tech stocks falling the most, down 1.4%. Germany's ten-year yield jumped 10 basis points (bps) to a two-month high.

European Central Bank (ECB) board member Isabel Schnabel warned over the weekend that central banks must act forcefully to combat inflation, even if that dragged economies into recession. (Reuters)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. urged investors to pile into commodities as most recession risks coursing through global markets are overblown in the near term, arguing that raw materials stand to rebound amid a profound energy crisis and tight physical fundamentals.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. urged investors to pile into commodities as most recession risks coursing through global markets are overblown in the near term, arguing that raw materials stand to rebound amid a profound energy crisis and tight physical fundamentals. (Full story)

After making a strong stock market debut on Friday, shares of Syrma SGS Technology extended gains for the second straight day as the stock rallied more than 7% to ₹342 apiece on the BSE in Monday's early session even as benchmark Sensex was down nearly 800% points or over a per cent. (Read More)

Japan's Nikkei share average slumped to its lowest close in two weeks on Monday, tracking losses on Wall Street after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said tight U.S. monetary policy would be needed "for some time" to tame inflation.

The Nikkei ended 2.66% lower at 27,878.96, with 202 stocks of the 225 constituents down, 20 up and three flat. (Reuters)

India’s potential clampdown on exports of broken rice shows the world’s top shipper trying to thread the needle of cooling domestic inflation without causing global panic.

The government is discussing curbs on broken rice exports, which account for a little under 20% of the country’s shipments abroad. While such a move has the potential to further disrupt global crop markets and worsen a hunger crisis, the impact is less severe than if it were to restrict all rice exports.

India accounts for 40% of the global rice trade so any change in its export policy has huge implications for the billions of people who depend on the staple. During the 2007-08 food crisis, India blocked rice exports, leading other producers such as Vietnam to follow suit. That sparked panic buying, sending rice prices to more than $1,000 a ton, more than double the level now. (Bloomberg)

IT, Metal, and Bank stocks led the race to the bottom, whereas FMCG stocks remained mostly stable.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. expects the UK economy will slip into recession later this year, with the risk that it could turn out to be a deep contraction amid soaring energy costs.

The UK’s gross domestic product is expected to fall by around 1% through mid-2023, Goldman said in a research note Monday. Annual output next year will likely shrink by 0.6%, a sharp turnaround from Goldman’s previous estimate of a 1.1% expansion. (Read More)

ELGI Equipments shares are one of the multibagger stocks that Indian stock market has delivered in last one year. Following stock market sentiment today, ELGI Equipments share price today opened downside but soon extracted bulls' attention and ascended to its life-time high of ₹504.90 apiece on NSE. Out of last six sessions, this multibagger stock has hit record high on all sessions except on Tuesday last week. (Full Story)

Investors' wealth fell by ₹3.23 lakh crore in early trade on Monday in-line with the lacklustre trend in the equity market.

The BSE Sensex tanked 1,466.4 points or 2.49 per cent to 57,367.47 in morning trade.

Tracking the weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by ₹3,23,123.54 crore to ₹2,73,72,988.06 crore. (PTI)

Ruchira Papers Ltd board will meet this week on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 to consider the issue of bonus shares of the company to its shareholders. Bonus shares are fully paid additional shares issued by a company to its existing shareholders. (Read More)

The government is likely to invite financial bids for the privatisation of BEML in the December quarter, an official said.

Earlier this month, the corporate affairs ministry approved the demerger of land and non-core assets of BEML to BEML Land Assets Ltd.

The official said that every shareholder of BEML will get shares in BEML Land Assets and the process of demerger would be completed by the end of September or early October.

"Once the demerger process gets over by September-end or by early October, the financial bids for strategic sale of BEML would be invited," the official told PTI. (PTI)

Outlook & Valuation: Amber’s revenues witnessed strong overall growth despite challenges posed by prevailing inflation. The RAC industry witnessed strong demand during the quarter despite price hikes. Furthermore, the industry is expected to grow 28-30% in volume terms and Amber is confident it to outpace the industry growth in FY23. Increasing product offerings, customer additions foray into the Commercial AC space, and entry into exports will drive the company’s long-term growth.

Recommendation: We recommend a BUY on the stock with a target price of ₹2,504/share, implying an upside of 10% from CMP.

Gold and silver fell sharply in India today after Fed chairman last week indicated high interest rates will continue for some time to curb inflation. On MCX, gold futures fell to one-month low when they dived 0.5% to ₹50,970 per 10 gram. Silver futures tumbled 1.3$ to ₹54063 per kg. On Friday, the yellow metal had tumbled nearly ₹500 in tandem with a fall in international rates. (Read More)

India's Bank of Baroda plans to raise at least 5 billion rupees ($62.52 million) through sale of Basel III compliant additional Tier I perpetual bonds, three merchant bankers said on Monday.

The state-run lender has invited coupon and commitment bids from bankers and investors on Tuesday, they said.

The bonds are rated AA by ICRA and India Ratings.

The issue will close for subscription later this week. (Reuters)

A long term stock investor not just gains from the rise in the share price of its portfolio stock. There are various other means of income for a shareholders that helps its money grow even when the stock is not ascending. Announcement of interim dividend, bonus shares and buyback of shares, etc., are such additional means that help a long term stock investors money to grow. However, if the stock grows along with these means, then it becomes an icing on the cake for a stock investors. Titan Company shares are one such stock that has given stellar return to its shareholders and at the same time it has announced bonus shares and stock split as well. Titan shares are one of the multibagger stocks that Indian stock market has delivered in last few years. (Full Story)

Tirthankar Das, technical & derivative analyst, retail, Ashika Stock Broking Ltd: On the technical front, Nifty formed an indecisive doji after a small fall hence one can expect rangebound moves ahead with high volatility. Nifty in the weekly time frame has breached the previous week’s which is the first sign of exhaustion. At present juncture, one need to avoid trading aggressively amid global nervousness. US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated hawkish stance on interest rate hike denting nascent hopes for a more modest path of policy tightening. Thus, it would be sensible if one avoid fresh longs in index and book profits in trading bets. Considering the present situation, a bare minimum correction of 38.6% of the entire rally from 15,183 to 17,992 comes around 16900 followed by 50% correction at 16600. On the upside Nifty need to sustain above 17,350 with some authority for the bulls to strengthen their stance.

Sameet Chavan, chief analyst-technical and derivatives, Angel One Ltd: Similar to the previous session, the Nifty started on a positive note on Friday, however, there was a lack of follow-up buying at higher levels, and the Nifty gradually came lower to erase a significant part of the opening gains. Nifty eventually ended with gains of 0.21% at 17559.

The Nifty has now closed precisely around the mid-point of the close trading range of 17750 – 17350 and since markets have lost their sheen, it would be difficult to predict the immediate path of action amid some global nervousness. In our sense, one should avoid trading aggressively within the range and till the time, we remain above 17350, there is no reason to worry for. Only a breakdown below this sacrosanct support would extend the corrective phase towards the major support zone of 17100 – 17000. Before 17350, we can see immediate support around 17450. On the flip side, 17700 – 17750 are the levels to watch out for. If bulls have to strengthen their stance, the Nifty needs to surpass the higher boundary with some authority. Till then it’s better to take one step at a time and ideally, the positioning must be on a lighter side.

SGX Nifty is indicating a big gap down opening, and it would be crucial to see how markets react around the key supports post such a big gap down. In our sense, volatility is likely to remain on the higher side; hence, one should avoid aggressive bets to avoid undue risk.

Pranit Arora, Co founder & CEO of Univest: Fed chair foreshadowed further interest rate increase to fight rising inflation and has raised concerns regarding recession. Higher interest rate will lead to lower liquidity and global markets have taken this sentiment negatively. US indices were 3-4% down and Asian markets are also down by ~2%. So, we maintain a negative outlook on markets today!

Oil prices rose 1% on Monday, as expectations OPEC will cut output if needed to support prices, conflict in Libya, and rising demand amid soaring natural gas prices in Europe helped offset a dire outlook for growth in the United States.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures jumped $1.09, or 1.2%, to $94.15 a barrel at 0241 GMT, adding to a 2.5% gain last week.

Brent crude futures rose 89 cents, or 0.9%, to $101.88 a barrel, extending a 4.4% gain last week. (Reuters)

Indian rupee fell sharply today after the US Fed chief indicated high interest rates will continue for some time to curb inflation. The rupee fell to record low of 80.11 vs USD, compared with the previous session's close of 79.87. On Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole meet of central bankers signalled that restrictive policy would be kept longer to bring down inflation. (Read More)

Cryptocurrency prices today plunged with Bitcoin extending its drop below $20,000 amid concern about the Federal Reserve’s rate-hike path. The world's largest and most popular cryptocurrency was trading more than a per cent lower at $19,848. The global crypto market cap today fell below the $1 trillion mark, as it was down over 2% in the last 24 hours at $994 billion, as per CoinGecko. (Full Story)

New Delhi Television said early Monday that its promoter group has written to India market regulator asking it to clarify whether the regulator's order in 2020 restricts conversion of warrants issued to Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL) into equity shares.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate last week said it was seeking to control a majority stake in NDTV. (Reuters)

STOCK IN FOCUS

Supreme Industries (CMP Rs.1,925)

We have our BUY rating on the stock with a Target Price of Rs2,265.

Intraday Picks

TITAN (PREVIOUS CLOSE: 2,533) BUY

For today’s trade, long position can be initiated in the range of Rs2,510- 2,500 for the target of Rs2,590 with a strict stop loss of Rs2470.

DIVISLAB (PREVIOUS CLOSE: 3,588) BUY

For today’s trade, long position can be initiated in the range of Rs3,570- 3,555 for the target of Rs3,695 with a strict stop loss of Rs3,490.

DLF (PREVIOUS CLOSE: 380) SELL

For today’s trade, short position can be initiated in the range of Rs381- 383 for the target of Rs371-366 with a strict stop loss of Rs388.

The Indian rupee could slip to a record low against the dollar on Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled that restrictive policy would be kept longer to bring down inflation.

The rupee < INR=IN> is tipped to open at 80.00-80.10 per U.S. dollar, compared with the previous session's close of 79.8650. The currency had hit an all-time low of 80.0650 last month.

The rupee will "most likely" see a record low, if not at open, then later during the session, a trader at a Mumbai-based bank said. (Reuters)

Proctor & Gamble Health and Indostar stocks will be in focus as they declare their June quarterly report today. (Read More)

Indian government bond yields are expected to be higher in early trades on Monday, tracking a similar move in U.S. Treasury yields, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled more rate hikes to bring down inflation.

The benchmark 10-year government bond yield is likely to trade in 7.20%-7.26% band, a trader with a private bank said. The yield had slumped seven basis points on Friday to end at 7.2173%.

"The commentary from Fed is very hawkish, and even though the 10-year U.S. yield has not shown any large reaction, the two-year yield is now inching closer to 3.50%, and this should lead to some selling locally today," the trader said. (Reuters)

Suzuki Motor Corp will set up a global research and development company in India, its president said on Sunday, pushing deeper into a market that is set to become an electric vehicle (EV) hub for the Japanese carmaker.

To expand the electric vehicle market in India, Suzuki Motor corp has announced to set up a global research and development company in India, its president said on Sunday. (Full Story)

Adani Group firm AdaniConneX is planning to build 1,000 megawatt data centres -- almost double the present size of the total industry -- over a period of 10 years, a senior company official said.

AdaniConneX Senior Vice President and Head of Data Centre Business, Sanjay Bhutani said the the first seven data centres of the company will come up in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune.

"We are building 1,000 megawatt data centres. Today, the industry stands at 550 MW. Building 1,000 megawatt data centre in the next one decade is something which is our business plan," Bhutani said while speaking at 9.9 Group's CIO and Leader Conference on Saturday. (PTI)

The airline, which started operations on August 7, has apologised to its customers and has "self-reported the incident" to CERT-In, according to a communication.

In the communication posted on its website, the airline said a temporary technical configuration error related to login and sign-up service was reported on August 25.

"As a result, some Akasa Air registered user information limited to names, gender, email addresses and phone numbers may have been viewed by unauthorised individuals.

"We can confirm to you that aside from the above details, no travel-related information, travel records or payment information was compromised," the airline said. (PTI)

The government has decided to curb exports of maida, semolina and wholemeal aata to check rising prices ahead of the festive season. This comes after a ban on exports of wheat on 13 May and wheat flour—or atta—last week. DGFT said exports of these items would be allowed in certain cases, subject to government permission. (Full Story)

FMCG distributors are upset over HUL's expansion of the distribution network in Madhya Pradesh and called for mass resignations, while the leading manufacturer said it is not removing anyone of its current distributors and value relationships with them. The existing distributors of HUL are fearing to lose half of their investments in retail trade, if new distributors are appointed, said their umbrella body AICPDF in a statement on Sunday. HUL on Sunday put advertisements for the appointment of new distributors for its brands in all major cities in Madhya Pradesh. (PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India aims to be self-reliant in the energy sector in the next 25 years and electric vehicle, which is leading a "silent revolution", has a key role to play in achieving it.

With a major part of energy consumption being in the transport sector, the prime minister said innovation in this sector should be a priority.

"It is our goal that India becomes Aatmnirbhar for its energy needs in the next 25 years of Amrit Kaal," Modi said while addressing a programme held to mark 40 years of Suzuki Motor Corporation in India at the Mahatma Mandir convention centre here.

He further said, "As a major part of energy consumption is in the transport sector, innovation and (research) efforts in this sector should be our priority. I am confident we will be able to achieve this." (PTI)