NIFTY50: 19,543 ▼ 89 (-0.4%)
SENSEX: 65,995▼ 307 (-0.4%)
Namaste, friends!
Many of us dream of travelling around the world, at least once in our lifetime. But a man from Denmark has actually fulfilled this dream, by travelling to 203 countries in the span of 10 years! What’s even more astonishing is that he achieved the remarkable feat without taking a single flight! Talk about going places! On the contrary, the markets were rather lacklustre and closed in the red. More on that later.
- Benchmark indices ended lower after a volatile session; Nifty closed below 19,600
- In all, 32 of the NIFTY50 stocks closed in the red
- RBI kept repo unchanged for the third time at 6.5%. More on that later.
Among the NIFTY sectoral indices, Media (+6.6%) and Metal (+0.6%) were the top gainers, while FMCG (-0.9%) and PSU Bank (-0.8%) were the top losers.
| Top gainers | Today's change |
| Adani Enterprises | 2,549 ▲ 41 (+1.6%) |
| Adani Ports | 804 ▲ 12 (+1.6%) |
| IndusInd Bank | 1,430 ▲ 21 (+1.5%) |
| Top losers | Today's change |
| Asian Paints | 3,231 ▼ 100 (-3.0%) |
| Kotak Bank | 1,797 ▼ 34 (-1.8%) |
| Britannia | 4,540 ▼ 60 (-1.3%) |
What’s trending
⭐ Grasim reports mixed Q1 numbers
Grasim Industries reported a consolidated revenue of ₹31,065 crore, up 11% YoY driven by strong performance by its subsidiaries: UltraTech Cement, Aditya Birla Capital, and Aditya Birla Renewables. Meanwhile, its net profit declined 18% YoY to ₹1,576 crore amid weak chemical prices, which led to lower realisations in standalone businesses.
⭐ Adani Enterprises has no plan to exit Adani Wilmar
Adani Enterprises has denied media reports which stated that the business conglomerate plans to sell its stake in the FMCG joint venture Adani Wilmar. Earlier this week multiple media houses reported, Adani Enterprises was planning to sell its stake to free up capital for its core business. Shares of Adani Enterprises rose 1.6% today, while those of Adani Wilmar were down 1.1%.
⭐Trent shares surge post robust Q1 results
Shares of Tata Group company Trent, which operates the Westside retail chain, rose more than 5% today after the company posted strong quarterly results. During the June quarter, the company's standalone revenue grew by 54% YoY to ₹2,536 crore, while its net profit surged 45% YoY to ₹148 crore. It also added 49 new stores during the quarter.
⭐ NCLT approves Zee-Sony merger
Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) rose over 16% today, touching a new 52-week high, after National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) gave its final nod to the proposed merger of Zee Entertainment with Sony India. This merger was announced in December 2021. However, NCLT reserved its verdict after creditors of ZEEL raised several objections to this deal.
In Focus
RBI maintains status quo on interest rates
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its key policy rate unchanged at 6.5% for the third consecutive time. It had last raised the rates by 0.25% in February 2023, after rapidly raising policy rates by 250 basis points (2.5%) since May 2022. Let’s explore the reasons behind the change in the central bank’s stance.
Pause in rate hikes
The RBI said the repo rate was kept unchanged amid stable economic conditions. Previous rate hikes undertaken by the central bank are working their way into the economy. As a result, domestic economic activity continues to remain stable, despite a slowdown in the global economy.
Meanwhile, the progress of the southwest monsoon across the country with improvement in kharif crop sowing in July gave the central bank a sigh of relief. This may have prompted the RBI to keep the policy rates unchanged.
Inflation forecast for FY24
The central bank marginally increased its FY24 retail inflation forecast to 5.4% from 5.1% in the previous policy. This comes on the back of rising prices of vegetables, cereals, pulses and crude oil. International Brent crude oil is trading above $87 per barrel amid production cuts.
Outlook on growth
On the growth front, RBI expects the Indian economy to grow at 6.5% in FY24, supported by recovery in kharif sowing and rural incomes. Meanwhile, healthy balance sheets of banks and corporates along with supply chain normalisation and government’s thrust on capital expenditure will continue to boost overall economic growth.
How did the markets react?
The RBI’s rate decision was in line with the market expectations. Despite this, markets closed in the red mainly due to volatility caused by the weekly expiry.
NIFTY Bank fell over 300 points or 0.7% after RBI said that banks have to maintain a 10% incremental cash reserve ratio (ICRR). The move is expected to suck out liquidity worth ₹90,000 crore from the system.
ICRR is a temporary measure employed when there is a sudden increase in deposits. RBI felt this measure was necessary as there is excess liquidity in the banking system following the withdrawal of ₹2,000 currency notes.
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