The BSE Sensex was at 72,466 points, up 0.23 percent, or 161.61 points, and the NSE Nifty was up 0.08 percent, or 17.95 points, at 21,969.10.
At 9.30 am on Wednesday, out of 2,974 equities that were actively traded, 1,138 rose, 1,733 fell, and 103 were unchanged. At that time, 65 stocks reached a 52-week high and 29 hit a 52-week low.
“All three major US stock indexes finished lower on Wednesday,” stated Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities. Investors were fixated on the prospect of a high inflation reading before the bell on Thursday morning. On Wednesday, US stocks ended the day with a modest loss, one day before a crucial inflation report that could significantly impact when investors expect the Federal Reserve to decrease interest rates. The favored inflation indicator of the Federal Reserve, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, is anticipated to reveal that prices crept up 0.3% on a monthly basis in January. The US economy is still growing rapidly and isn’t exhibiting any indications of slowing down, even if the growth rate for the fourth quarter was reduced to 3.2% annually.
At first, the administration claimed a 3.3% increase in GDP for the last quarter of 2023. In the second half of 2023, consumer spending propelled the US economy to tremendous pace.
The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has announced that Shriram Finance will replace UPL in the Nifty 50 index. March 28, 2024 is the date of implementation for the amendments. Not only that, Jio Financial Services is going to be a part of the Nifty Next 50. Weak consumption and a lacklustre industrial sector likely caused India’s GDP growth to fall below 7% for the first time this fiscal year in the three months between October and December.
Markets are expected to start the day on a flat to positive note, according to Vikas Jain, a senior research analyst at Reliance Securities. Today, we will be receiving data from various global economies, including the US economy (personal spending), the US Federal Reserve’s comments on when the first interest rate cut will be implemented, inflation figures from the Eurozone (Germany and France), data on domestic GDP for the fourth quarter, and the expiration of the February series of futures and options.
The US market fell as much as 0.5% overnight in anticipation of today’s release of crucial inflation data, which can significantly influence predictions regarding when the Federal Reserve would decrease interest rates. While the US GDP statistic for Q4 came in at 3.2% (estimation at 3.3%), consumer spending increased at a rate of 3%, which was quicker than the 2.7% previously predicted. The outcome was a 4 basis point drop in the US 10-Year bond rate, which ended the day at 4.26%. Up 35 points, or0.3%, is Gift Nifty. The Nifty fell more than 1% to end the day below 22000 yesterday as a result of profit-booking. On the other hand, the Nifty metal, oil and gas, finance, realty, and automobile index fell 2%.
According to a media report, SEBI has requested that mutual fund trustees create a system to protect the interests of small and midcap scheme participants. Investors avoid extremely speculative counters and instead put their money into equities with solid fundamentals. The market is likely to remain rangebound today as traders await the release of crucial data on the domestic and global economies. We will be keeping a close eye on auto stocks tomorrow as we await the announcement of the monthly sales figures for February. In the afternoon, before today’s February series F&O expiration, short-covering could happen.
At 9.30 am on the NSE, Reliance was up 1.26%, Hero Motocorp 0.92%, Maruti 0.89%, SBI 0.54%, and Adani Ports 0.52%.
Zia Pharmaceuticals (-1.33%), Bajaj Auto (-1.23%), UPL (-0.99%), BPCL (-0.87%), and Apollo Hospitals (-0.82%) are among the major companies that incur losses.
Midcap stocks on the BSE fell 0.039% and smallcap stocks down 0.15%.
(This news report is from a syndicated feed. THND team members did not write or edit the content except for the headline.)
