Sensex Recovers From Day's Low To Trade Flat; Power Grid, NTPC & Adani Ports Top Gainers
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Asian share markets are lower today following Wall Street falls and as bond yields struck a two-decade high on fears aggressive US interest rate hikes would push the economy into a recession.
The Nikkei plunged 1.7% while the Shanghai Composite declined 1.6%. The Hang Seng is down 0.6%.
In US stock markets, Wall Street indices nosedived on Monday, with the S&P 500 confirming it is in a bear market.
Fears added that the expected aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve could push the economy into a recession.
The Dow Jones plunged 2.8% while the tech heavy Nasdaq slumped 4.7%.
Back home, Indian share markets are trading on a flat note.
Benchmark indices opened lower tracking the trend on SGX Nifty and following weak global sentiment. However, losses were somewhat erased as recent inflation data soothed nerves.
Retail inflation eased to 7.04% in May, mainly on account of softening food and fuel prices as the government as well as the RBI stepped in to control the price rise.
Now, all eyes are on India's wholesale price index (WPI) numbers.
The BSE Sensex is trading down by 57 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 22 points.
Power Grid and NTPC are among the top gainers today. Asian Paints, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.
The BSE Mid Cap index is up 0.1%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.3%.
Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the energy sector and banking sector witnessing most of the selling.
Power stocks and IT stocks, on the other hand, are trading in green.
Shares of Gensol Engineering and Shankar Lal hit their 52-week highs today.
After falling almost 6% yesterday and more than 25% since listing, shares of insurance behemoth LIC are up 1.6% today.
Note that LIC share price is continuously falling, making the company one of the biggest wealth destroyers among Asia's initial public offerings (IPOs) this year.
The stock market is falling as there are inflation worries and geopolitical tensions still remain overhang.
Amid the volatility, many stocks have hit their 52-week lows, despite strong fundamentals.
The rupee is trading at 78.06 against the US$.
Gold prices are trading down by 0.2% at Rs 50,542 per 10 grams.
Meanwhile, silver prices are trading down by 0.4% at Rs 60,096 per kg.
Investors in crypto markets are not having a good night's sleep as Bitcoin tumbled to an 18-month low, falling below US$21,000.
Investors shunned risky assets in the face of a global market selloff.
Many crypto exchanges have paused bitcoin withdrawals which lead to a sharp fall in the entire crypto market.
In news from the finance sector, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance firms witnessed an improvement in their asset quality in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, helped by minimal impact of Omicron variant of Covid-19 and lower slippages from restructured book.
A report by ICRA stated that gross stage 3 assets (loans overdue for more than 90 days) for NBFCs reduced to 4.4% in March 2022 from 5.7% in December 2021.
Housing finance companies' gross stage 3 assets moderated and stood at 3.3% vis-a-vis 3.6% in December 2021.
The agency said that entities augmented their collections in view of the tighter Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provision (IRAC) norms, which are applicable from October 2022.
NBFC write-offs remained elevated and marginally higher than the last fiscal, while HFC write-offs were modest.
In other news from the finance space, Bajaj Finance on Monday said it has raised fixed deposit interest rates on various tenors by up to 20 basis points.
The lending arm of Bajaj Finserv said this will not include deposits of 44 months tenor.
The revised rates on Bajaj Finance FDs of up to 20 basis points are effective from 14 June 2022 and shall be applicable to fresh deposits and renewals of maturing deposits, the lender said in a release.
In news from the commodities space, according to a government official, India has ample stocks of rice and there is no plan to restrict exports.
India, which is the world's biggest rice exporter, had banned wheat exports in a surprise move last month.
In financial year 2022, India exported non-basmati rice worth US$ 6.1 bn, which is 27% higher than the previous year.
India's efforts to expand port handling infrastructure and explore new opportunities to export rice have helped boost rice exports in the country.
Along with this, the expectation of a normal monsoon will further boost the exports in the next fiscal year.
All in all, the prospects look bright for India's rice processing industry.
Moving on to news from the automobile sector, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is among the top buzzing stocks today.
M&M is seeking approval from the National Company Law Tribunal for a merger of Mahindra Electric Mobility (MEML) to itself.
Seeking the tribunal's approval for the merger, India's leading utility vehicle maker explained that the value chain required for end-to-end electric vehicle (EV) development, manufacturing and sales is currently spread between M&M and MEML and it needs to be consolidated.
The Mahindra group said this merger will bring this entire value chain under one umbrella driving a sharper focus for smooth and efficient management of the value chain requirements.
The company also informed the tribunal that as of 31 October 2021, Mahindra Electric Mobility had about 846 unsecured creditors with a collective value of Rs 4.9 bn and M&M has 43,596 unsecured creditors with a combined value of Rs 165.4 bn.
Note that M&M started putting in place a new structure within the company in 2021.
It committed Rs 30 bn on an investment of electric vehicles in the future and its last-mile mobility division has already become the largest selling electric three-wheeler maker in India in fiscal 2022.
No wonder M&M shares have been rising even when the entire market is falling.
Last month, it was the first time that M&M shares reached the mark of Rs 1,000!
Disclosure: Equitymaster Agora Research Private Limited (Research Analyst) bearing Registration No. INH000000537 (hereinafter referred as 'Equitymaster') is an independent equity research ...
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