US markets surged to record levels on Monday, although Asian markets are not showing the same momentum. The Indian market is nevertheless expected to begin today’s session with modest gains.
The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee began its meeting on Monday. Governor Sanjay Malhotra will announce the decisions at 10 am tomorrow.
No change is expected in the repo rate, although the central bank could modify its approach towards liquidity.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index survey showed that the factory output index for July fell to its lowest level in five years.
In derivatives trading at GIFT City, GIFT Nifty closed at 24,590.00 on Monday night. It rose to 24,648 this morning, indicating that the Indian market could open with modest gains.
The India Meteorological Department said the deficit in southwest monsoon rainfall stood at 11.9% as of August 3.
Under the department’s classification, rainfall that is up to 19% above or below the long-period average is considered normal.
Kerala’s rainfall deficit narrowed to 23.23%. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Assam and Meghalaya have recorded rainfall deficits of more than 20%.
Around 37% of India’s geographical area has received rainfall that is more than 20% below normal.
However, the government estimates that the area under kharif cultivation has nearly reached last year’s level.
US markets were buoyant on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a record high.
Lower crude oil prices and strong results from major technology companies supported the rally. Reports of healthy growth in factory production and the services sector also strengthened investor optimism.
SpaceX shares surged 5.68% ahead of the company’s results today. However, the stock remains substantially below its initial public offering price. Tesla shares also advanced.
Amazon jumped 4.58%, lifting its market capitalisation above $3 trillion. Nvidia, Alphabet and Microsoft also gained, while Apple declined again.
The Dow jumped 693.38 points, or 1.32%, to close at a record 53,178.41 on Monday.
The S&P 500 advanced 110.78 points, or 1.48%, to end at 7,600.50. The Nasdaq Composite surged 540.04 points, or 2.13%, to close at 25,913.90.
US futures are trading higher.
Dow futures are up 129 points, or 0.24%. S&P 500 futures have gained 14 points, or 0.18%, while Nasdaq futures are up 77 points, or 0.27%.
In the American Depositary Receipt market in New York, HDFC Bank gained 0.71% during regular trading on Monday and rose another 0.12% in after-hours trade to close at $24.13.
ICICI Bank advanced 1.75% during the regular session and remained unchanged in after-hours trading at $30.26.
Infosys gained 1.83% during regular trading before declining 0.24% in after-hours trade to close at $12.22.
Wipro surged 13.54% during the regular session and remained unchanged in after-hours trading at $2.05.
European markets rallied on Monday as oil prices declined and expectations of a ceasefire in West Asia strengthened.
The UK’s FTSE index, however, ended marginally lower.
AstraZeneca shares fell by as much as 9% following reports that the pharmaceutical company was holding merger talks with US-based Bristol Myers Squibb.
Asian markets are trading in different directions today.
South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.5%, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.4%.
Australia’s benchmark index gained 1%. Hong Kong rose 0.30%, while Shanghai advanced 0.20%.
The decline in crude oil prices gave the Indian market a strong start to August on Monday.
With the new Closing Auction Session price-determination system coming into effect, the National Stock Exchange’s closing movement was almost 1% higher than that of the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Under the new system, the cash market closes at 3.15 pm, after which an auction is held to determine the closing prices of futures and options stocks. The auction ends at 3.30 pm, and closing prices are announced at 3.35 pm. Futures and options trading continues until 3.40 pm.
Market officials said the difference seen on Monday was because it was the first day of the new system.
The Nifty, which stood at 24,590 when the cash market closed, climbed to 24,774 within the next 20 minutes. The Bank Nifty also surged. The Sensex did not record a comparable movement.
The information technology index jumped 3.28%. Shares of major IT companies rose by close to 5%.
Tourism, railway, defence, banking, financial services, automobile, fast-moving consumer goods, real estate and consumer durables companies also recorded strong gains.
Media stocks declined after the Securities and Exchange Board of India imposed penalties and market restrictions on Zee Entertainment, promoter Subhash Chandra and chief executive officer Goenka. Zee Entertainment shares fell by as much as 16%.
Federal Bank shares closed at a record ₹371.70, gaining 3.58%.
Muthoot Finance shares fell by as much as 12% despite strong growth in revenue and profit during the June quarter, as concerns emerged over declining interest and profit margins. The stock closed 7.3% lower.
Brokerages issued differing ratings on the stock.
Bernstein maintained an outperform rating and set a target price of ₹4,500. CLSA also retained an outperform rating but reduced its target to ₹4,000.
Morgan Stanley assigned an overweight rating with a target price of ₹3,705. Jefferies recommended holding the stock with a ₹3,300 target, while Motilal Oswal set a target of ₹2,850.
Foreign investors continued buying on Monday, purchasing shares worth a net ₹922.26 crore in the cash market. Domestic institutional investors were also net buyers, with purchases of ₹1,571.18 crore.
The Sensex gained 544.39 points, or 0.70%, to close at 78,639.03 on Monday.
The Nifty surged 390.70 points, or 1.60%, to end at 24,774.30.
The Bank Nifty advanced 983.10 points, or 1.72%, to close at 58,247.95.
The Nifty Midcap 100 gained 764 points, or 1.21%, to end at 63,679.30. The Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 249.70 points, or 1.29%, to close at 19,589.35.
More stocks advanced in the broader market. On the BSE, 2,841 stocks rose and 1,564 declined. On the NSE, 2,346 stocks advanced while 1,020 fell.
The central government will sell a 6.5% stake in Life Insurance Corporation of India.
The offer for sale will take place today and tomorrow at an offer price of ₹382 per share, which is 10% below Monday’s closing price.
The government expects to raise ₹35,000 crore through the sale, with 82.2 crore shares entering the market. The sale is intended to increase the government’s budgetary revenue.
DLF reported a 52.9% decline in first-quarter revenue, while net profit increased 4.1%.
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency reported a 36.8% increase in June-quarter net profit.
Great Eastern Shipping’s first-quarter net profit jumped from ₹505 crore to ₹1,309 crore.
The prospect of a ceasefire in West Asia and the decline in crude oil prices supported gold on Monday.
Gold gained $12.80 to close at $4,056.50 an ounce. It declined to $4,049 this morning.
In Kerala, the price of 22-carat gold remained unchanged at ₹1,05,760 per sovereign.
Silver closed at $58.30 an ounce.
Platinum stood at $1,632, palladium at $1,246 and rhodium at $7,825.
Major industrial metals continued to advance on Monday.
Copper gained 0.81% to reach $13,944.85 a tonne. Aluminium rose 1.25% to close at $3,218.71.
Zinc and tin also advanced, while nickel and lead declined.
International rubber prices increased, while prices remained unchanged in Kerala.
In Bangkok, RSS-1 was quoted at $284.10 per quintal and RSS-3 at $280.60 per quintal.
In Kerala, RSS-4 remained at ₹28,400 per quintal.
Cocoa prices jumped 10.04% on Monday to reach $5,939 a tonne.
The increase followed Ghana’s warning that production would decline sharply during the 2026-27 season.
The Ghana Cocoa Board estimates that unfavourable weather could reduce production by 16%. Output in Ivory Coast is also expected to fall by more than 10%. Ghana and Ivory Coast are the world’s largest cocoa-producing countries.
Arabica coffee declined 3.79% to $3.195 a pound.
The US Department of Agriculture expects global coffee production to reach a record level this year. Record arabica output is expected in Brazil, while Vietnam is projected to produce a record robusta crop.
There are concerns that El Niño could reduce production next year.
The US Dollar Index declined on Monday to close at 99.90. It climbed to 100.05 this morning before easing slightly.
The euro fell to $1.1511, while the pound declined to $1.3427.
The Japanese yen weakened to 157.45 against the dollar. The Bank of Japan and the US Federal Reserve are jointly trying to strengthen the yen.
The Chinese yuan remained at 6.75 against the dollar.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note declined to 4.686% this morning.
The Indian rupee strengthened on Friday. The dollar fell by five paise to close at ₹95.33.
In the offshore non-deliverable forward market, the dollar was quoted at ₹95.33 this morning. The Chinese yuan rose to ₹14.12 and the euro to ₹109.71.
Crude oil prices edged higher today.
Brent crude fell 4.2% on Monday to close at $83.77 a barrel. It rose to $84.27 this morning.
West Texas Intermediate crude reached $80.82 a barrel.
Cryptocurrencies are trading with volatility.
Bitcoin moved above $63,600 this morning. Ether remained below $1,860, while Solana traded below $73.50.
