Stock Market Today: Top 10 things to know before the market opens 0n 25th August
The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are likely to open marginally higher on August 25 as trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a mildly positive start for the broader index with a gain of 29 points.
The BSE Sensex lost 180 points to close the previous session at 65,252 points, while the Nifty50 closed 57 points lower at 19,386 points, trading near its 200-day moving average of 19,561 points and trying to sustain the ongoing momentum.
The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty may get support at 19,364, followed by 19,314 and 19,231.
In case of an upside, 19,529 can be the key resistance, followed by 19,580 and 19,662.
Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in the currency and equity markets today.
We have collated a list of important headlines across news platforms, which could impact Indian as well as international markets.
GIFT Nifty
The GIFT Nifty indicates a marginally positive start for the broader index with a gain of 29 points after the Nifty closed 57 points lower at 19,386 points on August 24. GIFT Nifty futures stood at 19,323 points.
US Markets
Stocks fell sharply Thursday after a tech rally, sparked by stronger-than-expected Nvidia results, was short-lived.
Traders also braced for a key speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 373.56 points lower, or 1.08 percent, at 34,099.42.
The S&P 500 lost 1.35 percent to end the day at 4,376.31. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 1.87 percent to 13,463.97.
Thursday marked the worst day for the Dow since March. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq had their biggest one-day loss since Aug. 2. Nvidia shares reached an all-time high after the company reported quarterly earnings and revenue that exceeded lofty analyst expectations.
The company also raised its guidance, with executives predicting third-quarter revenue would climb to $16 billion, or a year-over-year increase of 170%.
However, the stock closed just 0.1 percent higher.
The information technology sector the S&P 500′s biggest loser, ending Thursday down 2.15 percent, weighed by declines in other semiconductor stocks including Advanced Micro Devices and Intel.
Shares of major tech companies saw declines during the session, with Amazon losing 2.7 percent, Apple declined 2.6 percent, and Netflix dropping 4.8 percent.
Dollar Tree was the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500, losing 12.9 percent on disappointing third-quarter guidance.
Shares of Nike shed 1.1 percent, extending their record losing streak.
Boeing dragged down the Dow, losing nearly 5 percent.
European Markets
European markets stumbled on Thursday as an early boost from Nvidia’s bumper earnings report and falling bond yields faded through the session.
After three consecutive positive sessions and a strong open, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.4 percent lower.
Financial services added 0.5% while tech stocks retreated from a recent rally to fall 2.3 percent.
The European blue-chip index gained Wednesday even as euro zone purchasing managers’ index figures came in well below expectations and services activity slid into decline.
Shares in Asia-Pacific rose on Thursday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index leading gains as investors reacted to a blockbuster earnings report from US artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia.
Asian Markets
Asia-Pacific markets fell across the board as investors prepared for signals on U.S. monetary policy from central bankers’ comments at the Jackson Hole meeting on Friday, including a speech by US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
In Asia, the core inflation rate for Japan’s capital Tokyo came in at 2.8 percent for August, slightly below the 2.9 percent expected by economists polled by Reuters.
The core inflation rate strips out prices of fresh food. Overall inflation for Tokyo was recorded at 2.9 percent, lower than the 3.2 percent seen in July.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.69 percent on its open, while the Topix was down 0.9 percent, while South Korea’s fell 1.04 percent and the Kosdaq shed 0.8 percent In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 also opened lower, dropping 1.19 percent.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 18,053, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI’s close of 18,212.17.
MPC Minutes: Members express caution on near-term pick up in inflation
Majority of the members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) expressed caution on the pick up in retail inflation in the near-term, showed the minutes of the monetary policy meeting held on August 8-10. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das cautioned that headline inflation is expected,
to harden significantly in July-August, driven by the spike in tomato and other vegetable prices, the minutes showed.
Another member Rajiv Ranjan noted that the forecast of continuation of uneven monsoon in the next two months together with an El Nino event, amid volatile global food prices, makes the food price outlook uncertain.
Ashima Goyal, another member in the six-member MPC panel, said important factors including the progress of the rest of the monsoon and possible supply-side action needs to be watched while deciding future rate course.
Adani group says equity worth Rs 2.36 lakh crore deployed in FY23, more than half of total gross assets
Ports-to-power conglomerate Adani group on August 24 said that its various strategic initiatives have increased the company’s total equity deployment to Rs 2.36 lakh crore, which is more than half of the group’s total gross assets.
“Equity deployed by the end of FY23 was Rs 2,35,812 crore, much higher than the net debt of Rs 1,87,087 crore,” a release issued by the Ahmedabad-headquartered business giant stated.
This resulted in the total equity increasing to 55.77 percent of the total assets as compared to 40.16 percent at the end of FY19, it said.
Adani group also noted that it closed the June 2023 quarter with the “highest-ever cash balance at portfolio level of Rs 42,115 crore This was Rs 1,764 crore higher than at the end of the preceding March quarter.
For the first time, the portfolio’s net debt to earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and ammortisation (EBITDA) fell below 3x — at 2.81x in the last 10 years, the release added.
Antfin likely to sell 3.6% stake in Paytm via block deal today: Report
Paytm promoter Antfin is likely to sell 3.6 percent stake or 2.3 crore shares of fintech company Paytm via block deal on August 25, reported Bloomberg.
The floor price for the deal is likely to be at a discount of Rs 880.10 per share. Paytm shares on August 24 closed 0.15 percent lower at Rs 904.20 apiece on BSE.
Earlier on August 7, the company informed the exchanges that Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of One 97 Communications Limited and Antfin have entered into an agreement where Sharma will purchase a 10.3 percent stake in Paytm.
As per the filing, an overseas entity 100 percent owned by Sharma called Resilient Asset Management BV will acquire the stake in Paytm from Antfin through an off-market transfer.
On closing of this transaction, Sharma’s shareholding in Paytm will increase to 19.42 percent, whereas Antfin’s shareholding will reduce to 13.5 percent.
Jio Financial Services down 5% for fourth day: When will passive fund selling end?
Jio Financial Services share price hit 5 percent lower circuit for the fourth session on August 24. It has been on a decline since its listing as passive funds are selling shares, pre-empting its exit from the Nifty and Sensex.
Since JFS hit circuit on first two days, the stock’s exclusion from Nifty and Sensex was postponed. Instead of August 24, it is now set to be removed effective August 29.
Aeroflex Industries IPO subscribed 97.11 times on final day
The Rs 351-crore initial public offering (IPO) of Aeroflex Industries continued to get a good response on August 24 as well, the final day of bidding, with the issue subscribed 97.11 times.
Investors had bid for 225.46 crore equity shares against the offer size of 2.32 crore, with the company probably enjoying the first-mover advantage in the flexible flow solutions industry.
Healthy financial performance and improved debt-to-equity ratio also boosted investor confidence, analysts said.
High net worth individuals bought 126.13 times their reserved portion, which is 15 percent of the IPO.
Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), who had 50 percent of the IPO set aside for them, had bid 194.73 times their quota.
Retail investors subscribed 34.41 times their allotted quota.
Thirty-five percent of the shares have been set aside for retail investors.
Oil Prices
Oil prices slipped on Thursday on disappointing economic data from key economies, with investors awaiting a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday for clues on interest rate moves.
Brent crude fell 99 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $82.22 a barrel by 1352 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.08, or 1.4 percent, to $77.81 a barrel.
Manufacturing data from a host of purchasing managers’ index (PMI) surveys on Wednesday painted a grim picture of the health of economies across the globe, raising demand concerns, analysts said.
Dollar Index
The Dollar index traded 0.42 percent higher in futures at 103.86, whereas the value of one dollar hovered near Rs 82.59.
Gold Prices
Gold inched lower on Thursday after data pointing to a tight U.S. labour market pushed the dollar and yields higher but held a tight range as traders positioned for interest rate guidance from central bankers at Jackson Hole.
Spot gold was down 0.02 percent at $1,913.99 per ounce by 9:30am EDT (1330 GMT), easing slightly off its highest level since August 10 hit earlier in the session.
U.S. gold futures fell 0.3 percent to $1,941.60.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, as labour market conditions remained tight despite the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes.
The “strong jobs market continues to portend a Fed that would need to remain higher for longer,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.
FIIs and DIIs
Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 1,524.87 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased Rs 5,796.61 crore worth of stocks on August 24, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.
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