The Indian stock market is likely to open higher on Monday led by positive global cues amid gains in Asian and US peers.
This week, investors will eye a host of stock market triggers including the much-awaited annual general meeting (AGM) of oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries, macroeconomic data, global cues, and more.
In the week gone by, Indian stock market consolidated in a range and settled lower for the fifth successive week, the longest streak since April 2022, amid weak global cues.
“Domestic markets came under pressure after RBI meeting minutes showed concern over rising inflation and outlook over excess liquidity. Also, investors were cautious ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium. We continue to expect Nifty to be in a narrow range due to lack of positive triggers. In the meantime, niche mid and small cap sectors are likely to remain in action,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
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Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:
Asian Markets
Asian markets traded higher on Monday after China announced new measures to support its ailing markets. However, cautiousness prevailed ahead of readings on US jobs and inflation.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.2%, having eked out minor gains last week to break a three-week losing streak, Reuters reported.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.93% and the Topix rose 0.89%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.41%, while the Kosdaq rallied 0.7%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures traded higher at around 17,970 as compared with the HSI’s close of 17,956.38.
In Australia, S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.47%.
Meanwhile, Gift Nifty was trading higher at 19,284.50 as compared to the Nifty futures’ previous close of 19,223.60, indicating a positive start for the Indian benchmark indices.
US Stocks
US stock market ended higher on Friday following a balanced speech by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Symposium.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 247.48 points, or 0.73%, to 34,346.9, while the S&P 500 rallied 29.4 points, or 0.67%, to 4,405.71. The Nasdaq Composite ended 126.67 points, or 0.94%, higher at 13,590.65.
Among stocks, Gap shares rallied 7.2% after the company beat second-quarter profit estimates, while Nordstrom declined 7.7% after the department store chain left its forecasts unchanged.
Hostess Brands shares jumped 21.7% after Reuters reported, iting people familiar with the matter, that the company is exploring a sale.
Marvell Technology share price dropped 6.6%, while Hawaiian Electric Industries plunged 18.5%.
Also Read: Wall Street week ahead: Jobs data for August, other economic reports in focus
US Federal Reserve
The US Federal Reserve is prepared to raise interest rates higher, and hold them there, in order to bring down elevated inflation in the world’s largest economy, chairman Jerome Powell said at the Jackson Hole central banking conference in Wyoming.
Powell said Fed policymakers would “proceed carefully as we decide whether to tighten further,” but also made clear that the central bank has not yet concluded that its benchmark interest rate is high enough to be sure that inflation returns to the 2 per cent target.
Read here: US Federal Reserve ‘prepared to raise rates further’ to bring inflation down to 2%: Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole
China halves stamp duty on stock trades
Beijing has cut the stamp duty on stock trades to half and has also vowed to slow the pace of initial public offerings (IPOs), in an attempt to woo investors to the Chinese stock markets and revive investor confidence.
The finance ministry said it was lowering the levy charged on stock trades from 0.1% to 0.05% as of August 28.
Read here: China lowers stamp duty on stock trades, tightens IPOs to woo investors
Moreover, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) also said on Sunday that China will slow the pace of IPOs and further regulate major shareholders’ share reductions.
Evergrande H1 net loss narrows to $4.5 bln
China’s indebted property developer Evergrande Group on Sunday reported narrowing of net loss for the first half of the year.
Evergrande’s January-June loss declined to 33 billion yuan ($4.53 billion) from 66.4 billion yuan loss in the same period a year earlier. Its first-half revenue rose 44% YoY to 128.2 billion yuan.
Liabilities dropped slightly to 2.39 trillion yuan from 2.44 trillion yuan, while total assets also shrank to 1.74 trillion yuan from 1.84 trillion yuan, YoY.
Read here: China Evergrande records $4.5 billion loss in first half of the year
The developer posted a combined net loss of $81 billion for 2021 and 2022 in a long-overdue earnings report last month, versus an 8.1 billion yuan profit in 2020, Reuters reported.
The crisis-hit developer has, since late 2021, seen a string of debt defaults, unfinished homes and unpaid suppliers.
(With inputs from Reuters)