The Indian stock markets opened at record high. At the opening bell, the Nifty was 99 points at 17,728.50 while the Sensex was was 365.79 points at 59,506.95. Nifty Bank is nearing 38,000 on September 17.
ITC, SBI, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank were among the major gainers while Tata Steel, Infosys and HCL Tech were the major losers at the opening session.
ITC was up 2.08 percent at Rs 235.55, SBI (+1.09 percent) at Rs 468.70, Axis Bank (+0.87 percent) at 809.50, ICICI Bank (+0.78 percent) at Rs 732.65, Kotak Bank (+0.75 percent) at Rs 1,920, Bajaj Finance (+0.74 percent) at Rs 7,465.85.
Tata Steel was (-) 0.44 percent down at Rs 1,430.25, followed by Infosys (-)0.41 percent at Rs 1,695.30, and HCL Tech (-)0.25 percent at Rs 1,259.50.
US stocks close mixed
US stock benchmarks finished an up-and-down day mixed, with the Nasdaq Composite managing to register a slight gain, as August retail sales showed an unexpected rise and a measure of activity in the Federal Reserve’s Philadelphia district came in stronger than expected. Data showed August retail sales rose 0.7 percent, defying forecasts for a 0.7 percent fall. Excluding autos, sales jumped 1.8 percent, compared with expectations for a rise of 0.2 percent.
The S&P 500 ended slightly lower on Thursday paring losses in late trading after unexpectedly strong retail sales data underscored the strength of the US economic recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62.22 points, or 0.18 percent, to 34,752.17, the S&P 500 lost 6.65 points, or 0.15 percent, to 4,474.05 and the Nasdaq Composite added 20.30 points, or 0.13 percent, to 15,181.83.
Separately, the Philadelphia Fed’s activity index jumped to 30.7 in September from 19.4 a month earlier. At the same time, data showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected in the week ending September 11 (+20000 to 332000 vs 320000 expected), though continuing claims fell.
US economy dented in Q3
The US economic rebound has been dented in Q3, partly on the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant, with economists in a Reuters poll also pushing their expectations back to November for when the Federal Reserve announces an impending policy shift.
The median Q3 growth forecast in the September 13-16 Reuters poll was slashed to a 4.4 percent seasonally adjusted annualized rate from 7.0 percent just a month ago and well below the second quarter's 6.6 percent growth, with the range showing lower lows and lower highs.
Markets dip globally on Thursday
Markets dipped globally on Thursday as concerns about investments in China and a down day on Wall Street outweighed positive economic data in the United States.
International investors that have been piling into China in recent years are now bracing for one of its great falls as the troubles of over-indebted property giant China Evergrande come to a head. The developer's woes have been snowballing since May. Dwindling resources set against 2 trillion yuan ($305 billion) of liabilities have wiped nearly 80 percent off its stock and bond prices, and an $80 million bond coupon payment now looms next week.
Rs 30,600 cr approved for NARCL
The Union Cabinet on September 16 approved a government guarantee of up to Rs 30,600 crore for security receipts to be issued by National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL). Security receipts represent an undivided right or interest in a financial asset. Typically, asset reconstruction companies or a bad bank buy distressed assets paying 15 percent cash and the balance 85 percent in security receipts.
Asian stocks mixed
Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Friday morning trade as investors react to mixed US economic data released overnight.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan climbed 0.38 percent while the Topix index traded fractionally higher. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.22 percent.
Oil prices steady
Oil prices steadied on Thursday after hitting a multi-week high a day earlier as the threat to US Gulf crude production from Hurricane Nicholas receded.
Brent crude ended the session up 21 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $75.67 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) ended the session unchanged at $72.61 a barrel.
Fuel prices unchanged
On Friday (September 17), the price of petrol and diesel remains unchanged at Rs 101.19 and Rs 88.62 per litre in Delhi, as per Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest fuel retailer.
Across the country, petrol and diesel prices remained static, but their retail rates varied depending on the level of local taxes in a particular state.
In Mumbai, the petrol price was stable at Rs 107.26 per litre on Friday while diesel rate also remained unchanged at Rs 96.19 a litre.
In Chennai, petrol is priced at Rs 98.96 a litre and in Kolkata Rs 101.62 a litre. Diesel is also priced at Rs 93.26 and Rs 91.71 per litre in both cities respectively.
Fuel prices have been hovering at record levels on account of 41 increases in its retail rates since April this year.
Rs 30,600 cr approved for NARCL
The Union Cabinet on September 16 approved a government guarantee of up to Rs 30,600 crore for security receipts to be issued by National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL). Security receipts represent an undivided right or interest in a financial asset. Typically, asset reconstruction companies or a bad bank buy distressed assets paying 15 percent cash and the balance 85 percent in security receipts.
Addressing a press conference, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman said, "We are also setting up an India Debt Resolution Company Ltd to manage the Non-Performing Assets (NPAs). In this company, public sector banks (PSBs) and state-owned financial institutions will own 49% stake." She added that private sector banks will also hold a stake.
Sebi plans separate category in AIF
Markets regulator Sebi is planning to carve out a separate category in Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) whereby such entities can purchase distressed loans from banks and NBFCs. Pointing out the growing number of AIFs, Sebi Chairperson Ajay Tyagi said on Thursday that the last financial year saw 90 new AIFs getting registered with the regulator under different categories, taking the total number to more than 700.
"This would unlock the capital of banks and NBFCs and make it available for fresh lending. A new sub-category of AIFs could be carved out for this purpose," he added. Acknowledging the pick-up in launching of ESG-themed schemes by mutual funds in India over past few years, Tyagi said the regulator, at present, is engaging with the industry about disclosing certain broad ESG-related parameters in respect of such schemes.
Domestic air passenger traffic surges 33.8% M-O-M
Domestic air passenger traffic surged 33.8 percent month-on-month in August, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on September 16. The total passenger load in August stood at 67.01 lakh compared to 50.07 lakh in July and 31.13 lakh in June.
The passenger traffic in August 2021 also more than doubled when compared to the same month in the past year, the aviation sector regulator said. In August last year, the number of passengers carried by domestic airlines stood at 28.32 lakhs.
Six stocks under F&O ban
Six stocks – Escorts, Exide Industries, NALCO, SAIL, Sun TV Network and Zee Entertainment Network – are under the F&O ban today.
