Mr. Vishal Wagh, Research Head, BONANZA PORTFOLIO LTD
Indian indices opened lower today with Nifty around 18250. At the time of closing, Sensex was down by 518.64 points or 0.84% to close at 61,144.84 and Nifty was down by 147.70 points or 0.81% to close at 18,159.95.
During the day, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) staff see downside risk to the central bank's GDP forecast for the July-September period, with one of their models estimating a 20 basis points drop in growth at 6.1%. India's foreign exchange reserves soared by $14.72 billion to reach $544.72 billion for the week to November 11, making it the steepest accretion since August 2021. The NSE Indices, a subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange, on November 18 announced changes in its methodology of Nifty equity indices for mergers after receiving feedback from market participants. ICRA has projected the YoY growth of the GDP and gross value added (GVA) at basic prices in Q2 FY2023 at 6.5% and 6.3%, respectively, a base effect-led halving from the 13.5% and 12.7%, respectively recorded in Q1 FY2023. Foreign investors have been aggressively buying Indian equities in November, investing Rs 30,385 crore this month so far.
US existing home sales tumbled for a record ninth straight month in October as the 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit a 20-year high and prices remained elevated, pushing homeownership out of the reach of many Americans. Japan's core consumer inflation accelerated to a 40-year high in October, driven by currency weakness and imported cost pressures that the central bank shrugs off as it sticks to a policy of ultra-low interest rates. China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged for the third straight month, as a weaker Yuan and persistent capital outflows continued to limit Beijing's ability to ease monetary conditions to support the economy. On the sectoral front, the PSU Bank index is up 1%, while oil & gas, information technology, power, and realty indices are down 1% each.
Nifty 50 top gainers are BPCL, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Indusind Bank, and HUL while Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, Hero Motors corporations, Hindalco, and Reliance were among the top losers.