STATE OF THE MARKETS
SGX Nifty signals a negative start
Nifty futures on Singapore Exchange traded 14 points, or 0.09 per cent, lower at 15,897, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a negative start on Tuesday.
- Tech View: Nifty50 on Monday formed a trend reversal ‘Hanging Man’ candle on the daily chart and now needs to hold above the 15,800-834 range to maintain positive bias.
- India VIX: The fear gauge remained unchanged to 12.80 level on Monday over its close at the same level on Friday.
Asian stocks drop in early trade
Most Asian markets opened lower on Tuesday, tracking disappointing US manufacturing sector data released overnight. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.56 per cent.
- Japan’s Nikkei tanked 0.92%
- Korea’s Kospi added 0.05%
- Australia’s ASX 200 retreated 0.24%
- China’s Shanghai declined 0.66%
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.45%
US stocks settled mostly lower
Stocks closed mostly lower on Wall Street after a day of choppy trading. Investors were balancing unease about the spread of a more contagious coronavirus variant against another round of encouraging company earnings.
- Dow Jones shed 0.28% to 34,838.16
- S&P 500 declined 0.18% to 4,387.16
- Nasdaq added 0.06% to 14,681.07
Dollar on the back foot amid soft US data
The dollar was on the back foot against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc on Tuesday after soft US manufacturing data and rising concerns about the coronavirus Delta variant prompted traders to wind back bets on a strong economic recovery.
- Dollar index steady at 92.078
- Euro held at $1.1873
- Pound slipped to $1.3889
- Yen declined to 109.34 per dollar
- Yuan flat at 6.4621 against the greenback
Oil climbs, recoup some losses
Oil prices climbed on Tuesday, clawing back some of the previous session’s deep losses, even though concerns over coronavirus curbs combined with slowing factory activity in key buyer countries to keep a lid on gains. Brent crude oil futures rose 24 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $73.13 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude added 26 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $71.52 a barrel.
FPIs sell shares worth Rs 1,540 crore
Net-net, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 1,539.88 crore, data available with NSE suggested. DIIs were buyers to the tune of 1,505.82 crore, data suggests.
Q1 earnings today
Bharti Airtel, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, Dabur India, Tata Consumer Products, Godrej Consumer Properties, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of India, Alkyl Amines Chemicals, Kajaria Ceramics and IIFL Wealth Management are among the company that will announce quarterly earnings today.
MONEY MARKETS
Rupee: The rupee gained 8 paise to close at 74.34 against the US dollar on Monday, supported by a firm trend in domestic equities and a weak American currency.
10-year bond: India’s 10-year bond yield slipped 0.11 per cent to 6.2 after trading in the 6.19 – 6.21 range.
Data/Events to Watch
The DAY PLANNER
- Q1 Earnings: Airtel | Adani Ent | Adani Ports | Tata Consumer
- US Factory Orders MoM JUN (7:30 pm)
- US IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism AUG (7:30 pm)
- Fed Clarida Speech (11:30 pm)
- US Redbook YoY 31/JUL (6:25 pm)
- AU RBA Interest Rate Decision (10 am)
- JP Tokyo CPI YoY JUL (5 am)
- UK 30-Year Treasury Gilt Auction (4:15 pm)
MACROS
PM switches on e-RUPI digital payments mode
Voucher-based e-RUPI, the latest addition to India’s growing catalogue of digital-payment solutions, will help create a transparent and efficient welfare delivery mechanism, prime minister Narendra Modi said in his address on Monday during the system’s launch. The purpose-specific digital payment solution, developed by NPCI in partnership with several government agencies, over its interoperable UPI architecture will first be launched for Covid vaccine dispensation at private hospitals, the Prime Minister said.
Birla offers to give up Vi stake to keep telco afloat
Aditya Birla Group (ABG) chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had nearly two months ago offered to hand over the group’s 27.66s% stake in Vodafone Idea (VIL) to any public sector or domestic financial entity who could keep the company afloat, while asserting that without immediate government support, the telco would be driven to an irretrievable point of collapse. He said potential foreign investors wanted the government to show clear intent of its keenness to have a three player telecom market.
Manufacturing rebounds in July; exports up 48%
India’s manufacturing activity revived in July and posted the strongest growth in three months along with a marginal increase in employment as states eased localised restrictions, a private survey showed on Monday. Backing the recovery in manufacturing, official data released Monday showed India’s exports rising a sharp 48% year-on-year to a record $35.2 billion in July, buoyed by a growth in petroleum products, gems and jewellery, and engineering goods. Imports last month were at the second highest in history.
Consumer cos see best-in-July sales
From groceries to refrigerators, smartphones and cars, sales of essential goods and discretionary products bounced back sharply last month, with several manufacturers reporting their bestever July numbers this year. Sales of most categories increased 20-50% from a year earlier. This also came on a high base, as July last year was one of the strongest months for several sectors, driven by pent-up demand when markets reopened after a prolonged lockdown.
Govt seeks info to up IT hardware sops
The government has sought estimates of production, exports and the nature of value addition that will take place if the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware were to be expanded beyond Rs 7,325 crore. This, after a push from the industry to double the outlay of the scheme to Rs 15,000 crore and hike the rate of incentive to 5%.
Rural data usage rises 400%
Data consumption in rural areas has increased by 400% in the past one year, official data showed, demonstrating a big appetite for internet connectivity in India’s hinterlands. The government’s initiative to provide Wi-Fi hotspots and fibre-to-home (FTH) connections in rural areas has also garnered more than 1.3 million Wi-Fi registered users. More than 2 million household subscribers are set to benefit from high-speed broadband connections by December this year, officials said.
