Rebound In India Stocks Trim Weekly Losses in Sensex and Nifty

Arjun Pandit
22 Dec, 2023
Mumbai

Benchmark indexes in Mumbai and Asia advanced following the rebound in New York in overnight trading.

Market indexes were on the rise after U.S. GDP growth in the third quarter was revised slightly lower to 4.9% from the previous estimate of 5.1%.

Moreover, the weekly jobless claims increased by 2,000 to 215,000, confirming tight U.S. labor market conditions.

U.S. market indexes rebounded on speculation that weakening economic growth and a slight increase in jobless claims may convince policymakers to cut rates in 2024.

Moreover, crude oil prices are set to increase for the third week in a row due to elevated security tensions in the Red Sea, forcing more shipping companies to reroute shipments around South Africa.

The Saudi Arabia-led OPEC+ was also in the spotlight after Angola announced its plan to leave the oil cartel over a 2024 production quota disagreement.

Japan's consumer price inflation eased to 2.8% in November from 3.3% in October, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication reported Friday.

Overall inflation eased to the lowest level since July 2022 after food and transportation price inflation slowed.

Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes food but includes energy prices, slowed to 2.5% from 2.9% in the previous month but stayed above the 2% target set by the Bank of Japan.

The yen edged up slightly in Tokyo trading and traded at 142.51 against the U.S. dollar. 

 

India Indexes and Yields

The Sensex index increased 233.80 points to 71,188.05, and the Nifty index rose 113.45 points to 21,368.45.

For the week, the Sensex eased 0.2% and the Nifty decreased 0.4%. 

On the Mumbai stock exchange, 82 stocks traded at their 52-week highs and 5 stocks traded at their 52-week lows.

The yield on the 10-year Indian government bonds held firm at 7.18%, and the Indian rupee hovered near ₹83.25 against the U.S. dollar.

The gold price increased by 0.7% to ₹62,720 per ten grams, and silver edged up by 0.4% to ₹75,680 per kilo.

Crude oil increased by 1.5% to ₹6,223 per barrel, and natural gas fell by 0.1% to ₹206.80 per thermal unit.

 

India Stock Movers

GMR Airports Infrastructure gained 4.6% to ₹76.44 after the company signed an agreement to invest ₹675 crore in the planned airport at Bhogapuram, Andhra Pradesh.

Railtel Corporation increased 3.2% to ₹301.10 after the company won an order of ₹66.8 crore.

Allcargo Logistics gained 8.3% to ₹306.50 and Allcargo Gati advanced 1.4% to ₹140.0 after the boards of two companies agreed to restructure businesses.

Allcargo Logistics will manage the express and contract logistics business, and the international business will be spun off as a separate business as Allcargo ECU Ltd.

Allcargo Logostics shareholders will receive one-to-one additional shares in Allcargo ECU Ltd.

Allcargo Gati shareholders will receive 63 shares in Allcargo Logistics for every 10 shares held.

The latest restructuring scheme will take into account the 3-to-1 bonus approved by Allcargo Logistics shareholders. 

Zomato Ltd. increased 2% to ₹129.95 after the delivery company confirmed that the company is not looking to acquire Shiprocket valued at ₹17,000 crore rupees.

Tata Motor gained 2.8% to ₹729.15, and Tata Motor DVR added 2.9% to ₹488.45 after the BSE and NSE approved the company's plan to exchange shares of Tata Motor DVR for Tata Motor.

Life Insurance Company of India, or LIC, jumped 5.4% to ₹805.0 after the Ministry of Finance granted an exemption until 2032 to meet the 25% minimum public shareholding rule.