Stock Market Today: Top 10 things to know before the market opens on 18th September
The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are likely to open marginally higher on September 18 as trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a positive start for the broader index with a gain of 25 points.
The market jumped to fresh record highs on September 15, with the Nifty50 shooting past the 20,200 mark intraday for the first time in history.
Positive global cues, falling volatility and uptrend in auto, banking and financial services, technology and pharma stocks aided the rally.
The BSE Sensex zoomed 320 points to 67,839, while the Nifty50 advanced 89 points to 20,192 and formed a bullish candlestick pattern with a minor upper shadow on the daily charts, making higher highs and higher lows formation for the second consecutive session.
Strong Put writing at 20,100 has further bolstered positive sentiment in the market.
The trend is expected to remain positive as long as the Nifty remains above the 20,000 mark,” Rupak De, senior technical analyst at LKP Securities said.
The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty may be taking support at 20,146, followed by 20,124 and 20,089.
On the higher side, 20,217 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 20,239 and 20,274.
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 25 points. GIFT Nifty futures stood at 20,180 points after making a high of 20,194 points.
US Markets
U.S. stock futures inched up Sunday night as investors look toward the Federal Reserve’s next policy decision. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 17 points, or 0.05 percent. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures inched up 0.03 percent and 0.02 percent, respectively.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 32 points, or 0.1 percent.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also ticked up 0.1 percent. The broad market index and the Nasdaq both ended the previous trading week in the red, marking their second straight week of losses.
The Dow managed to end the week 0.1 percent higher.
Investors are widely anticipating that the Fed will hold interest rates steady.
However, traders will be keeping a close eye to get a better sense on the central bank’s stance on inflation from here.
How the Fed delivers the pause is crucial for November and December rate expectations, but whether it’s presented with a dovish or hawkish tilt is what matters most for financial markets,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial.
European Markets
European markets closed slightly higher on Friday as traders reacted to the European Central Bank’s suggestion that its latest hike may be its last.
The regional Stoxx 600 ended up 0.2 percent, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory. Household goods led the gains, up by 1.4 percent, while luxury stocks got a boost from Chinese retail sales figures.
The Stoxx 600 index climbed 1.5 percent Thursday, its best session since the start of June, according to LSED figures.
The ECB increased interest rates by 25 basis points, a 10th consecutive hike taking its main rate to a record high of 4 percent.
New staff projections revised its inflation forecasts for this year and next slightly higher, to 5.6 percent and 3.2 percent, though nudged its 2025 forecast lower, from 2.2 percent to 2.1 percent.
Staff also revised economic growth expectations for the euro zone lower.
Asian Markets
Asia-Pacific markets slipped Monday as investors look ahead to a week of central bank decisions.
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision is expected early Thursday in Asia, while Australia’s central bank will release its minutes for its Sept. 5 policy meeting on Tuesday.
On Friday, the Bank of Japan will conclude its monetary policy meeting and traders will be looking for clarity on when the BOJ will start to shift its ultra-easy monetary policy.
Elsewhere, the People’s Bank of China is also expected to release its loan prime rate decisions on Friday.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started the week down 0.13 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi also fell 0.32 percent and the Kosdaq slumped 0.42 percent.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 18,067, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI’s close of 18,182.89. Markets in Japan are closed for a public holiday.
Monetary policy to dominate commodity market sentiments this week
Global markets experienced a boost as Chinese regulators intensified efforts to stimulate domestic consumption, while persistent US inflationary pressures limited gains elsewhere.
The US dollar surged to a six-month high, reaching 105.43, as stubborn inflation in the United States fuelled expectations of continued monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve.
In August, the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.6 percent marking the largest monthly increase since May 2022.
Meanwhile, the core inflation rate moderated for the fifth consecutive month to 4.3 percent aligning with market expectations.
Retail sales in August also exceeded expectations, rising by 0.6 percent, showcasing the resilience of consumers in the face of elevated prices.
This leaves room for potential interest rate hikes in November or December, following an expected pause this month.
Jupiter Life Line Hospitals likely to list with 30% premium today
Healthcare service provider Jupiter Life Line Hospitals is likely to list with a 30 percent premium over the issue price of Rs 735 per share today i.e., September 18, according to experts.
They optimism for a double-digit premium listing stems from the robust subscription numbers the issue had posted, its strong brand recall in the MMR region, increasing demand in the healthcare sector, and an overall bullish sentiment in the equity markets.
The BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 gained nearly 5 percent, so far this month and hit their historic highs.
The Rs 869-crore initial public offering of the hospital chain was subscribed 63.72 times during September 6-8, majorly backed by qualified institutional buyers who bought 187.32 times the allotted quota. High net-worth individuals and retail investors provided support to the issue, putting in bids 34.75 times and 7.73 times the portion set aside for them. Jupiter Life Line Hospitals operates three hospitals in the Mumbai Metropolitan Area (MMR) and western region of India with a total capacity of 1,194 beds as of March 2023.
Primary market booms with 10 public issues lined up to raise over Rs 2,400 cr this week
The primary market is stepping on the gas with 10 companies ready to throng the Street with their initial public issues this week to raise at least Rs 2,400 crore along with six offers still open for bids and five stocks lined up for listing.
Telangana-based ethnic apparel retailer Sai Silks Kalamandir and Signature Global (India), a Delhi NCR-based real estate developer, will be the first IPOs in the mainboard segment, opening on September 20 and closing on September 22.
Sai Silks aims to Rs 1,201 crore from the issue at the upper end of price band of Rs 210-222 per share. The issue comprises fresh shares worth Rs 600 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 2.7 crore equity shares by the promoter group.
PSU bank stocks beat private peers in one-year returns, keep brokerages upbeat
Stocks of public sector banks (PSBs) have emerged as the champions of the Indian banking sector in the last one year, leaving private sector counterparts trailing behind and drawing further optimistic forecasts.
Analysts are now eyeing continued growth in PSU banks, likely to be propelled by consolidation efforts, credit growth and improving asset quality.
Over the past one year, shares of PSBs such as UCO Bank and Punjab & Sind Bank have given astonishing returns of over 187 percent and 148 percent, respectively.
Bank of Maharashtra and Central Bank of India have also gained significantly, rising 126.12 percent and 92.72 percent, respectively.
Amid turbulent market conditions marked by high interest rates and inflation, the Nifty PSU Bank Index tracking the performance of PSBs has surged by a noteworthy 52 percent over the past year.
This is far higher than the Nifty Bank Index’ 12 percent gain in the same period.
For the week (September 8-15), Nifty PSU Bank index rose 7.2 percent, while Nifty Private Bank index up nearly 2 percent.
Oil Prices
Oil prices hit a 10-month high on Friday and posted a third weekly gain as supply tightness spearheaded by Saudi Arabian production cuts combined with optimism around Chinese demand to lift crude.
Brent crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.3 percent, to settle at $93.93 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures was up 61 cents, or 0.7 percent, to close at $90.77 a barrel.
Both contracts traded at 10-month highs on Tuesday for the fifth consecutive session and gained about 4 percent on a weekly basis.
Oil prices are also on track for their biggest quarterly increase since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the first quarter of 2022.
Supply concerns continue to be a driving force for prices since Saudi Arabia and Russia this month announced an extension of their combined supply cuts of 1.3 million barrels per day to the end of this year, said Fiona Cincotta, an analyst at City Index.
Better-than-expected industrial output and retail sales data in China have also boosted oil prices this week, with the country’s economic conditions considered crucial to oil demand for the rest of this year, Cincotta added.
Data on Friday showed Chinese oil refinery processing rose by nearly 20 percent from a year earlier as processors kept run rates high to capitalize on high global demand for oil products.
Dollar Index
The Dollar index traded 0.06 percent lower in futures at 103.12, whereas the value of one dollar hovered near Rs 83.02.
Gold Prices
Gold jumped 1 percent on Friday, helped by a weaker dollar and safe-haven buying after United Auto Workers union kicked of strikes at three automakers in Detroit, while hopes around a likely pause in U.S. interest-rate hikes lent further support.
Spot gold was up 0.9 percent at $1,927.79 per ounce. Bullion has risen 0.6 percent so far this week.
US gold futures gained 0.9 percent to $1,949.70.
The dollar slipped 0.3 percent against its rivals following U.S. data earlier in the day, making gold less expensive for other currency holders.
Gold and silver are rallying on a wall of worry,” said Tai Wong, a New York-based independent metals trader.
FIIs and DIIs
Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 164.42 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased Rs 1,938.57 crore worth of stocks on September 15, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.
ByMoneycontrol
