An oil tanker came under attack in the Strait of Hormuz, but no fresh missile, bomb or drone attacks were reported overnight. Crude oil prices climbed above $91 a barrel. US markets fell significantly yesterday, while Asian markets are moving in mixed directions this morning. US futures remain largely unchanged.
In Gift City’s derivatives trading, Gift Nifty closed at 24,171.50 on Monday night. It rose to 24,212 this morning before retreating. This indicates that the Indian market is likely to open lower today.
India’s GDP grew 7.8 percent in the April-June quarter, beating expectations. Although lower than the 8.6 percent growth recorded in January-March, it was higher than the 6.9 percent growth recorded in the June quarter of the previous year.
GDP at current prices rose 10.3 percent, compared with 8.1 percent in the previous year. GDP stood at ₹81.36 lakh-crore at constant prices and ₹88.27 lakh-crore at current prices.
Capital investment growth accelerated from 5.8 percent to 11.9 percent.
Private consumption grew 7.1 percent.
The US-Iran war and rising crude oil prices weighed on US markets yesterday. However, the overall performance for August remained positive.
Dow Jones gained 1.3 percent in August.
S&P 500 rose 2.6 percent.
Nasdaq gained 3.9 percent.
The Dow has now closed higher for five consecutive months.
August was particularly strong for technology stocks. Nvidia gained 10 percent during the month, Microsoft rose 9 percent and Micron surged 16 percent.
On Monday, the Dow Jones fell 374.09 points, or 0.70 percent, to close at 53,185.90. The S&P 500 declined 25.62 points, or 0.33 percent, to 7,686.14. The Nasdaq Composite fell 31.53 points, or 0.12 percent, to 26,370.89.
US futures are showing only marginal movements this morning. Dow Jones futures are up 68 points, or 0.13 percent, while S&P 500 futures have gained 6 points, or 0.07 percent. Nasdaq futures are down 9 points, or 0.03 percent.
In New York’s ADR market on Monday, HDFC Bank fell 1.65 percent during regular trading but gained 1.23 percent in after-hours trading to close at $22.98.
ICICI Bank, which gained 1.61 percent during regular trading, rose another 0.69 percent in after-hours trading to close at $30.57.
Infosys gained 0.08 percent during regular trading and rose 1.13 percent in after-hours trading to close at $12.20.
Wipro gained 1.65 percent during regular trading and remained unchanged in after-hours trading, closing at $1.85.
European equity markets declined on Monday, weighed down by the war in West Asia and rising crude oil prices.
In Germany’s Commerzbank, Italian lender UniCredit’s stake rose to 49.65 percent. The stake moved close to 50 percent after treasury shares were cancelled.
UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel is scheduled to meet Germany’s finance minister on September 14 for discussions.
Asian markets are seeing modest gains and losses this morning.
Japan’s Nikkei: +0.15 percent
Australia: -0.60 percent
South Korea’s Kospi: +0.20 percent
Hong Kong: -0.70 percent
Taiwan: +1.20 percent
Shanghai: -0.20 percent
Yesterday was a rebalancing day for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, resulting in unusually high activity during the closing auction session (CAS). Around 22 percent of the BSE cash-market turnover, worth ₹39,712 crore, took place in the CAS, compared with less than 1 percent on previous days.
Bank Nifty, which was down 0.17 percent, or 98.95 points, before the CAS, ended with a gain of 0.92 percent, or 528.65 points.
Foreign investors remained heavy sellers. They made net sales of ₹7,985.88 crore in the cash market, while domestic funds were net buyers of ₹4,588.88 crore.
On Monday:
Sensex fell 307.24 points, or 0.40 percent, to 76,957.27.
Nifty 50 declined 95.25 points, or 0.39 percent, to 24,080.40.
Bank Nifty gained 528.65 points, or 0.92 percent, to 58,024.95.
Nifty Midcap 100 rose 155.25 points, or 0.24 percent, to 64,224.75.
Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 148.35 points, or 0.74 percent, to 19,931.05.
The broader market was dominated by losers. On the BSE, 1,785 stocks advanced and 2,665 declined. On the NSE, 1,331 stocks gained while 2,187 fell.
Leading brokerages recommended buying HDFC Bank shares yesterday and raised their target prices amid the leadership crisis at the bank. The stock initially gained 2.5 percent but later came under selling pressure and closed around 1.5 percent lower.
After falling 6.2 percent in July, HDFC Bank shares declined another 5.2 percent in August. Mutual funds continued to show interest in the stock.
The share is now close to its one-year low. HDFC Bank’s market capitalisation stood at ₹10,92,648 crore, compared with ₹14,24,475 crore on the eve of Atanu Chakraborty’s exit as chairman.
Although HDFC Bank remains India’s largest bank by market capitalisation, the gap with second-placed ICICI Bank has narrowed considerably. ICICI Bank’s market capitalisation currently stands at ₹10,43,481 crore.
ITC’s subsidiary ITC Infotech is set to merge with listed software services company Happiest Minds. ITC Infotech will acquire a 22.1 percent stake in Happiest Minds from promoter Ashok Soota. Subsequently, Happiest Minds shareholders will receive shares in ITC Infotech. For every 81 Happiest Minds shares, shareholders will receive 25 ITC Infotech shares. Following the transaction, ITC will hold 73.4 percent of the combined company.
ONGC will make a capital investment of ₹30,000 crore this year.
NCC Ltd said it has received a new construction contract worth ₹430 crore.
Cipla has secured an agreement to commercialise a cancer drug developed by a Chinese company following clinical trials. The drug can also be marketed in six countries, including South Africa, apart from India.
Gold fell to $4,395 an ounce on Monday before recovering to close at $4,449.10, down $7.30. Prices were slightly lower this morning.
In Keralam, 22-carat gold prices fell ₹1,080 per sovereign on Monday to ₹1,14,960.
Silver closed at $66.67 an ounce on Monday and was slightly lower this morning.
Platinum stood at $1,808, palladium at $1,395 and rhodium at $8,400 an ounce.
International rubber prices declined again, while prices in Keralam remained unchanged.
In Bangkok, RSS 1 fell to $281.70 per quintal and RSS 3 to $278.20. In Keralam, the price remained at ₹27,500 per quintal.
Cocoa prices rose 1.85 percent to close at $6,771 a tonne. Prices had also surged the previous day.
The rise is attributed to expectations of lower cocoa availability in the 2026-27 season. Ivory Coast and Ghana have said they will begin the season a month earlier, in September. However, there are no indications of a significant increase in arrivals.
The US Dollar Index fell on Monday to close at 99.43. It rose marginally to 99.48 this morning.
The euro strengthened to $1.1611, while the pound fell to $1.3543. The Japanese yen remained at 159.80 to the dollar, while the Chinese yuan stood at 6.73 to the dollar.
The yield on US 10-year Treasury bonds rose to 4.778 percent, amid expectations of higher interest rates.
The rupee gained for the second consecutive day on Monday. After opening lower, the dollar fell 22 paise to close at ₹95.16.
In the overseas forward market, the dollar was trading at ₹95.18 this morning.
The Chinese yuan fell to ₹14.15, while the euro stood at ₹110.50.
Crude oil prices climbed above $91 a barrel. Brent crude rose $2.39 on Monday to close at $90.49 and climbed further to $91.13 this morning.
WTI crude was trading at $86.60 a barrel.
Cryptocurrencies continued to trade lower. Bitcoin remained below $78,500. Ether fell below $2,460, while Solana was below $103.
Sensex 76,957.27 -0.40%
Nifty 50 24,080.40 -0.39%
Bank Nifty 58,024.95 +0.92%
Midcap 100 64,224.75 +0.24%
Smallcap 100 19,931.65 -0.74%
Dow Jones 53,185.90 -0.70%
S&P 500 7,686.14 -0.33%
Nasdaq 26,370.89 -0.12%
Dollar ₹95.16 -₹0.22
Gold (ounce) $4,449.10 -$7.30
Gold (sovereign) ₹1,14,960 -₹1,080
Brent crude $90.49 +$2.39
