The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty are set to start the week on a bearish note, tracking mixed cues from Asia and a negative finish on Wall Street on Friday. The weak trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-down opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 36 points lower at 17,520 levels on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 7:50 AM. With no major macroeconomic domestic data to be announced this week, global trends, foreign fund flows, and Brent crude prices will be key triggers for the market. On the global front, the European Central Bank interest rate decision and China's inflation rate will be keenly watched.
Last week, the Indian equities ended the week on a flat note with a slightly negative bias as concerns about an aggressive rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve and lower-than-expected first quarter GDP numbers dented market sentiments. The BSE Sensex dropped 31 points to 58,803 levels during the week ended September 2, while the NSE Nifty index settled 19 points lower at 17,539 during the week. On Friday, the 30-share Sensex closed 37 points higher at 58,803, while the Nifty50 fell 3 points to 17,539 in highly volatile trade as investors turn cautious ahead of the US jobs data, which could further strengthen the case for an aggressive rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were HDFC, ITC, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank. On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki India, Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, and Power Grid Corporation of India were among notable losers.
Stocks to watch
One97 Communications (Paytm): The fintech company has refuted any link with the merchants that are under the Enforcement Directorate (ED) scanner in the Chinese loan app case. The company issued the statement after the ED on Saturday carried out search operations at six premises – including Paytm and Razorpay – in Bengaluru while investigating the Chinese loan app case.
Petronet LNG: The country’s biggest gas importer has proposed to invest ₹40,000 crore in the next five years for expanding import infrastructure as well as foraying into new business to boost profitability to ₹10,000 crore, according to the firm's latest annual report.
ACC: Morgan Stanley Asia has purchased 9.4 lakh shares of cement manufacturer for over ₹215 crore through an open market transaction, as per bulk deal data available with the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
SpiceJet: The low-cost carrier, which is incurring losses for the last four years, is expected to get around ₹225 crore this week under the central government's Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to clear its dues, as per reports.
Vodafone Idea: The telecom company has prepaid a short-term loan of around ₹2,700 crore to State Bank of India to boost lenders' confidence as it seeks fresh bank funds to roll out for its 5G networks.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): The country’s largest software exporter has decided to do away with its anniversary hikes for lateral hires, who complete a year at the company, effective April 1, 2022. The first increment will be at the subsequent annual increment cycle (April 2023).
GMR Infrastructure: The Board of the company on Friday approved raising funds of up to ₹6,000 crore via foreign currency convertible bonds and/or any other security. This comes a day after another GMR group company, GMR Power and Urban Infra, on Thursday approved raising funds of up to ₹3,000 crore.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC): The state-owned oil firm has raised ₹2,500 crore in debt through non-convertible debentures (NCD) at an annual fixed coupon of 7.14%.The NCDs, which will be used for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditure, were rated AAA by Crisil and Icra.
Here are the key things investors should know before the market opens today:
Wall Street ends lower
On Friday, the U.S. indices ended in negative terrain as jobs data bolstered the case for higher interest rates. The U.S. payrolls report showed stronger-than-expected hiring of 315,000 in August following a revised 526,000 advance in July. However, the unemployment rate unexpectedly climbed to a six-month high of 3.7%, the first rise since January, which eased some concerns about an aggressive rate hike by the Federal Reserve in its meeting later this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.1% lower, the S&P 500 also fell 1.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.3%.
Asian shares mixed
Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mixed in opening trade on Monday, following weak cues from Wall Street and European markets. The market sentiment was dented by U.S. jobs data which raised concerns about aggrieve rate hike by the Federal Reserve, while Russia’s closure of a major gas pipeline to Europe pushed energy prices higher.
Regional heavyweight Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.2%, while South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.1%. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was the worst performer in the region with a 1.3% loss, followed by Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite, which fell 0.25%. The Taiwan Weighted index was also down 0.2%.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s Straits Times rose 0.35% and ASX 200 index in Australia was also trading 0.2% higher.
Markets in mainland China were also trading mixed, with the Shanghai Composite rising by 0.2%, while the Shenzhen Component fell by 0.1%.
FIIs, DIIs turn net sellers
The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net sellers in the Indian equity market on September 2. As per the exchange data, FIIs net sold shares worth ₹8.79 crore, while DIIs net offloaded stocks worth ₹668.74 crore.
FPIs infuse ₹51,200 cr in Aug
The foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have made a record investment of more than ₹51,200 crore into the Indian equity markets in August, the highest fund inflows in 20 months. This is the highest investment by the FPIs in the current calendar year after they turned net buyers for the first time in July, after nine consecutive months of massive net outflows since October last year. The foreign investors withdrew ₹2.46 lakh crore from the Indian equity markets between October 2021 to June 2022. However, they recently turned bullish on Indian equities amid improving risk sentiment and stabilisation in oil prices.
