India Stocks Rebound, Asian Markets Extend Losses

Arjun Pandit
04 Jan, 2024
Mumbai

Stocks in Mumbai rebounded after declining for four days in a row, and Asian markets lacked direction for the third day this week.

The Sensex and the Nifty indexes advanced as much as 0.4% in early trading, and investors awaited the start of the earnings season next week.

Market sentiment in Asia was weak for the third consecutive day this week after the Federal Reserve's minutes of the meeting held in December showed policymakers agreed that interest rates may be near their peaks in this tightening cycle.

Committee members agreed that a total of 75 basis point rate cuts are likely in 2024, but they were not sure about the timing.

The hawkish tone of the Fed's meeting dragged market indexes lower on Wall Street for the second day in a row this week.

 

Asian Markets Extend Losses

Asian markets were on the defensive following the release of the Fed's minutes of meetings, and committee members said that economic developments will determine the future rate path.

Benchmark indexes in Hong Kong declined 0.5% and in mainland China fell 1.5%, and domestic and foreign investors continued to sell stocks on the persistent growth worries.

Property developers drifted lower in Hong Kong and mainland trading after new and existing home sales declined in December and in 2023.

Caixin purchasing managers' index of the services industry increased to 52.9 in December from 51.5 in the previous month, indicating that the industry expanded for the 12th month in a row.

Market indexes in Tokyo declined 0.6% after the financial markets reopened for the first time in 2024; the KOSPI index in Seoul declined 0.2%; and the ASX 200 index decreased 0.3% following weak metal prices.

 

India Indexes and Yields

The Sensex index decreased 329.62 points to 71,686.22, and the Nifty index eased 91.20 points to 21,608.55.

On the Mumbai stock exchange, 224 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 7.21%, and the Indian rupee hovered near ₹83.30 against the U.S. dollar.

The gold price increased by 0.34% to ₹62,756 per ten grams, and silver rose by 0.2% to ₹72,465 per kilo.

Crude oil increased by 0.4% to ₹6,094 per barrel, and natural gas rose by 0.9% to ₹225.0 per thermal unit.

 

India Stock Movers

ONGC increased 2.2% to ₹213.40 after the oil exploration company won 7 of the 10 oil and gas exploration blocks auctioned by the central government.

Oil India, Sun Petrochemicals, and a consortium of Reliance Industries and BP plc won rights to explore one block each.

Adani Ports rose 1.7% to ₹1,112.80, and the company board approved the sale of non-convertible debentures and raised as much as ₹5,000 crore.

Bajaj Finance rose 3.5% to ₹7,647.95 after the company reported a surge in new customers, loan advances, and assets under management in the quarter ending in December.

The company added 38.5 lakh customers to 80 crore, assets under management, up 35% to ₹3.11 lakh crore, and new loans issued surged 26% to 0.98 crore.  

Jio Financial Services rose 1.2% to ₹237.0 after the company and the U.S.-based Blackrock Financial filed an application to launch mutual funds in India.

Power companies were in focus after NTPC, Power Grid, Torrent Power, and Gujarat Industries Power signed non-binding agreements with the state of Gujarat to build power plants ahead of the launch of the annual Vibrant Gujarat summit.

NTPC increased 3.5% to ₹317.0, Torrent Power soared 10% to ₹1,038.85, Power Grid gained 1.4% to ₹240.90, and Gujarat Industries Power added 2.3% to ₹188.35.

Dhampur Sugar Mills decreased 0.4% to ₹268.60 after the company said it plans to repurchase 10 lakh of its shares at a price of ₹300 per share.

Life Insurance Corporation of India added 0.4% to ₹842.35 after the company received GST collection notices from Telangana, Gujarat, and Uttarakhand totaling ₹667.5 crore.