Mr. Mitul Shah - Head of Research at Reliance Securities.
Indian equities ended lower following mixed cues in the global markets. Nifty was down 0.6%, while broader markets under-performed the main index as the Nifty Mid Cap and Nifty Small Cap, each ended 1.2% lower. All of sectoral indices ended in red. Nifty Metal (-2.5%), Nifty Media (-2.1%) and Nifty Consumer Durables (-1.7%) were the major laggards.
U.S stocks ended mixed after hawkish comments of Fed Chair Jerome Powell and a series of rate hikes by global central banks. The S&P 500 added 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose ~1%. The DJIA ended largely flat. Meanwhile, data shows that while sales of existing homes in the U.S. rose slightly last month, the median price of an existing home fell 3.1%, the largest drop since late 2011. The 10-year yield rose to 3.8%.
Late monsoons have sparked worries among traders as this could be a sign of increased retail inflation which eased in May to a 25-month low of 4.25%. Delayed sowing in key agricultural regions of Central India is likely to impact yield. As of 22nd June, the monsoon is 31% below normal. However, the IMD has indicated that the Southwest monsoon is expected to revive and progress further in the coming days.