Indian markets are closed today for a holiday, but Asian equities are under pressure, while US stock futures are also trading lower. Investors are bracing for the US Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision on Wednesday, with markets expecting a hike amid persistent inflation concerns.
India’s August retail inflation data will be released this evening. The market expects consumer price inflation to have risen 4.8 percent.
Crude oil has climbed back towards $108 a barrel after disruptions to Saudi Arabia’s oil exports added to supply concerns.
In GIFT City, GIFT Nifty closed at 23,455.50 on Friday night. It rose to 23,505 in morning trade before easing. The indications point to a largely steady opening for Indian equities when trading resumes tomorrow.
The Reserve Bank of India has reiterated that Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, should be listed on the stock exchanges.
The Tata Trusts, which hold about 67 percent of Tata Sons, are opposed to the listing, while the Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group, with an 18 percent stake, favours it. A listing could help the debt-laden SP Group monetise its holding and reduce its liabilities.
The SP Mistry family is related by marriage to Noel Tata, chairman of the Tata Trusts.
The Tata Sons board, which meets on Thursday, is expected to discuss whether to seek more time from the RBI or challenge the listing requirement in court. There are also reports that the board may ask chairman N Chandrasekaran, who has not publicly commented on the issue, to reconsider his decision to step down.
A Tata Sons listing could benefit several listed Tata Group companies that hold stakes in the holding company, including Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Tata Chemicals.
The presently unlisted Tata Sons shares held by these companies would acquire a transparent market valuation, potentially unlocking significant value. The market capitalisation of Tata Steel and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles could each rise by more than ₹30,000 crore, according to estimates.
HDFC Bank has submitted two names to the RBI for consideration as the bank’s next CEO. Deputy managing director Kaizad Bharucha is reportedly the preferred candidate.
The possibility of appointing an outsider is also being discussed. Current CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan is due to retire next month.
US equities rose sharply on Friday, helped by a decline in crude oil prices and inflation data that eased some concerns about the Federal Reserve’s policy path.
US consumer inflation rose 0.4 percent month-on-month and 3.4 percent year-on-year in August, broadly in line with expectations. While markets continued to price in a high probability of a rate hike this week, expectations of further increases appeared to ease.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 509.19 points, or 0.98 percent, to close at 52,573.29. The S&P 500 rose 65.28 points, or 0.86 percent, to 7,656.98, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 251.31 points, or 0.96 percent, to 26,333.04.
US stock futures are lower today as crude prices rise and fresh concerns emerge over the potential risks posed by rapid advances in artificial intelligence.
The Dow futures were down 62 points, or 0.12 percent, while S&P 500 futures fell 36 points, or 0.46 percent. Nasdaq futures declined 380 points, or 1.27 percent.
In New York’s American Depositary Receipt (ADR) market, HDFC Bank surged 6.87 percent during regular trading on Friday but slipped 0.43 percent in after-hours trading to close at $23.24.
ICICI Bank gained 1.87 percent during regular trading and was unchanged in after-hours trading at $29.39.
Infosys rose 1.47 percent during regular trading but fell 0.36 percent in after-hours trading to $11.03.
Wipro gained 1.20 percent during regular trading and added another 0.59 percent in after-hours trading to close at $1.70.
European equities rose sharply on Friday after the European Central Bank signalled that further rate hikes were unlikely. A decline in crude oil prices also supported investor sentiment.
Asian markets are under pressure again today.
Japan’s Nikkei was down 1.6 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi plunged 3.5 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.50 percent and Taiwan’s benchmark declined 1.20 percent. Shanghai was down 0.25 percent.
Australia was an exception, with its benchmark rising 0.30 percent.
Indian equities gave up Thursday’s gains and closed lower on Friday, with significant movements during the closing auction session.
Metal stocks came under heavy pressure as global metal prices declined. Realty, auto, oil and defence stocks also weakened, while banking and IT stocks posted modest gains.
Foreign investors, who had been net buyers in July and August, turned sellers in the first half of September. They withdrew ₹13,138 crore from the Indian market during the first two weeks of the month. On Friday alone, they were net sellers of ₹930.90 crore in the cash market.
Domestic institutional investors, however, remained buyers, purchasing equities worth a net ₹1,968.17 crore.
The Sensex fell 120.83 points, or 0.16 percent, to 74,781.76. The Nifty 50 declined 79.70 points, or 0.34 percent, to 23,398.10.
The Bank Nifty gained 134.60 points, or 0.24 percent, to 56,606.55. The Mid Cap 100 index fell 160.15 points, or 0.26 percent, to 62,197.20, while the Small Cap 100 index declined 115.65 points, or 0.58 percent, to 19,906.30.
Market breadth remained weak. On the BSE, 1,739 stocks gained and 2,612 declined. On the NSE, 1,471 stocks advanced while 2,038 fell.
Gold prices remained volatile as investors weighed the possibility of higher interest rates. The trend is likely to remain choppy until the Fed’s decision on Wednesday.
Gold gained $32, or 0.74 percent, on Friday to close at $4,349.70 an ounce. It slipped to $4,328 in morning trade today before rebounding to $4,356.
In Keralam, 22-carat gold fell ₹800 on Friday to ₹1,13,240 per pavan.
Silver rose 1.45 percent to $64.61 an ounce on Friday but eased slightly this morning.
Platinum was at $1,786, palladium at $1,276 and rhodium at $9,200.
International rubber prices edged lower on Friday. RSS 1 in Bangkok fell to $284.50 per quintal and RSS 3 to $281.00.
The Keralam market remained at ₹27,400 per quintal.
A strengthening El Niño could significantly reduce rubber production in Southeast Asia. The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries had estimated two weeks ago that global natural rubber production would reach 15.28 million tonnes this year, against consumption of 15.36 million tonnes.
Industrial metals came under heavy selling pressure on Friday amid interest-rate concerns.
Copper fell 1.04 percent to $14,238.50 a tonne. Aluminium declined to $3,256, while lead, nickel, zinc and tin fell by up to 2.19 percent.
Cocoa prices edged higher to close at $5,961 a tonne.
Prices had come under pressure last week after Ivory Coast’s cocoa exports rose 19 percent in August and stocks at the ICE exchange climbed to a two-year high.
However, production is expected to fall sharply in the 2026-27 season beginning in October. Ivory Coast and Ghana are expected to see production declines of 20 percent and 38 percent respectively. Ghana’s cocoa marketing company has doubled its earlier estimate of the country’s production shortfall.
Arabica coffee fell to $2.86 a pound as Brazilian production is expected to reach a record level. Brazil’s coffee exports rose 45 percent in August.
Palm oil fell 1.45 percent to 4,814 Malaysian ringgit a tonne.
The US Dollar Index rose on Friday to close at 99.12 and climbed further to 99.21 this morning.
The euro weakened to $1.1583 and the pound to $1.351. The Japanese yen stood at 153.84 to the dollar, while the Chinese yuan remained at 6.71 to the dollar.
The yield on US 10-year Treasury bonds rose again to 4.975 percent.
The rupee weakened for a second consecutive session on Friday. The dollar gained 11 paise to close at ₹95.55.
In the offshore forward market, the dollar fell to around ₹94.50 this morning, indicating a sharp recovery in the rupee.
The Chinese yuan was at ₹14.22 and the euro at ₹110.71.
Brent crude fell nearly 3 percent on Friday amid hopes of an improvement in the West Asia situation. But prices rebounded today after a key Saudi oil pipeline was shut following an attack from Iraq and Iran-aligned Houthi forces tightened control over shipping through the Red Sea.
Brent crude fell 3.02 percent on Friday to close at $104.61 a barrel. It rebounded to $107.71 this morning. WTI crude was trading at $102.76.
Cryptocurrencies came under renewed pressure.
Bitcoin fell below $76,700. Ether slipped below $2,480, while Solana fell below $99.50.
Sensex — 74,781.76 — -0.16%
Nifty 50 — 23,398.10 — -0.34%
Bank Nifty — 56,606.55 — +0.24%
Mid Cap 100 — 62,197.20 — -0.26%
Small Cap 100 — 19,906.30 — -0.58%
Dow Jones — 52,573.29 — +0.98%
S&P 500 — 7,656.98 — +0.86%
Nasdaq — 26,333.04 — +0.96%
US dollar — ₹95.55 — +₹0.11
Gold (ounce) — $4,349.70 — +$32.00
Gold (pavan) — ₹1,13,240 — -₹800
Brent crude — $104.61 — -3.02%
