The Indian equity benchmarks are likely to open on a flat note on Thursday, ahead of weekly expiry of index futures and option contracts, as indicated by the Nifty Futures traded on the Singapore Exchange. The Nifty Futures of Singapore Exchange also known as SGX Nifty Futures rose 11 points or 0.07 per cent to 15,407.
The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their two-day winning streak on Wednesday led by losses in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Infosys, ITC, HDFC Bank and HDFC. The benchmarks staged a gap down opening taking cues from subdued trend in Asian markets and extended selloff in noon deals after selling pressure engulfed European markets. The Sensex fell as much as 792 points and Nifty 50 index briefly dropped below its important psychological level of 15,400.
Asia Markets
Asian shares wobbled while commodity prices fell on Thursday as mounting worries about the risks of a global recession amid aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve kept broad investor sentiment fragile.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan reversed earlier gains to be mostly flat in Asia trade. Stocks in South Korea were off, while Japan's Nikkei was broadly unchanged, news agency Reuters reported.
Japan's Nikkei fell 0.05 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.13 per cent, South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.5 per cent and Taiwan Weighted dropped 0.6 per cent.
US Markets
Stocks gave up an afternoon gain and ended slightly lower on Wall Street Wednesday.
Energy companies helped pull the market lower after crude oil prices sank. The S&P 500 fell 0.1 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 0.1 per cent.
On Wednesday:
The S&P 500 fell 4.90 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 3,759.89.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 47.12 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 30,483.13.
The Nasdaq fell 16.22 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 11,053.08.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.75 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 1,690.28.
Crude Oil and Gold Price Check
Benchmark U.S. crude oil for August delivery fell $3.33 to $106.19 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crude for August delivery fell $2.91 to $111.74 a barrel.
Gold for August delivery fell 40 cents to $1,838.40 an ounce. Silver for July delivery fell 35 cents to $21.42 an ounce and July copper fell 10 cents to $3.94 a pound.
Foreign Flows
Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 2,920.61 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,859 crore.
Rupee Check
The rupee declined by 27 paise to a record low of 78.40 against the US dollar on Wednesday due to unabated foreign fund outflows and losses in the domestic equities.
A stronger greenback overseas also weighed on the rupee sentiment, forex traders said. However, receding crude prices in the international market restricted the rupee's loss, they added.
Vodafone Idea, Airtel, Reliance Industries (Telecom shares): The Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued a new order that will enable telecom operators to reduce spectrum usage charges proportionately on buying fresh radiowaves in the upcoming 5G auction.
The DoT, in the order dated June 21, has removed spectrum usage charge (SUC) from the radiowaves that will be bought in the auction scheduled to start from July 26.
ITC: High inflation that has impacted FMCG industry growth continues to remain a key challenge in the near term, with continued geopolitical tensions and extended global supply chain disruptions posing "key downside risks" for the year ahead, according to diversified entity ITC Ltd.
Bajaj Auto: Bajaj Auto on Wednesday launched its new Pulsar N160 motorcycle model in India priced at Rs 1.28 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
The Pulsar N160 is built on the same new platform as the Pulsar 250 which was launched in October last year. It comes equipped with dual-channel ABS (anti-lock braking system), the company said in a statement.
IRB Infra: IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd on Wednesday said it has received Rs 308 crore towards part payment of an arbitration award from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
IRB Infrastructure, in a statement, said IRB Pathankot Amritsar Toll Road Ltd (IPTRL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of IRB InvIT Fund, had in July 2021 won the arbitration award of 518 days extension in concession period and Rs 419 crore (including interest) towards the delay in completion of the project on account of reasons not attributable to the company.
Mahindra & Mahindra: Mahindra Tractors, a part of Mahindra’s Farm Equipment Sector, has rolled out its 300,000th Telangana-made tractor from the company’s tractor manufacturing facility.
Poonawalla Fincorp: Two individuals on Wednesday offloaded shares of Poonawalla Fincorp Ltd worth Rs 120 crore through open market transactions.
According to block deal data available with the BSE, Sanjay Chamria and Mayank Poddar sold 27,06,350 shares each at an average price of Rs 222 apiece, taking the transaction size to Rs 120.16 crore.
