The Indian rupee weakened past 67-mark to hit a 15-month low against US dollar after foreign investors continued to liquidate its holdings in local equity and debt market, and rise in crude oil prices.
Equity markets witnessed a strong day as the S&P BSE Sensex reclaimed Mount 35K while the same can’t be said for the Indian currency which slipped below Rs 67/USD.
The Indian rupee weakened past 67-mark to hit a 15-month low against US dollar after foreign investors continued to liquidate its holdings in local equity and debt market, and rise in crude oil prices.
“With WTI oil also pushing above $70/bbl, rupee resumed the weakness pushing beyond Rs 67/USD. FIIs continue to be net sellers in Indian equities, adding further pressure on the rupee,” Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services told Moneycontrol.
“To this end, CPI release scheduled later this week will be viewed with interest. Markets participants also watched the RBI's recent move to conduct OMO; to buy government bonds worth up to Rs 10,000 crore on 17May,” he said.
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The Sensex traded above the psychologically important 35,000 level while the Nifty traded above 10700 levels towards the close of the trade thanks to positive global cues. The markets finally closed the day with gains of over 0.50 percent led by gains in metals, oil & gas, realty, auto, and consumer discretionary goods.
“Globally, investors digested the trade talks between the US and China. Both sides recognize that there are still big differences on some issues and they need to continue to step up their work to make progress,” Abhijeet Dey, Senior Fund Manager-Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
“Investors remained skittish over the outcome of these talks. On the sectoral front, while the IT and healthcare indices traded with losses, strong gains of over 1% were seen in most of the other sectoral indices,” he said.
Sectorally, the S&P BSE Metal index gained 1.6 percent, followed by the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index which gained 1.64 percent, and the S&P BSE Realty index rose 1.51 percent.
On the losing front, the S&P BSE Healthcare index slipped 0.5 percent, followed by the S&P BSE IT index which closed flat with a negative bias.
Sensex gainers include names like GAIL India (up 4.2 percent), M&M (up 3.6 percent), Axis Bank (up 3.04 percent), Hindalco (up 2.8 percent), and Tata Steel (up 2.7 percent).
Index heavyweight, ICICI Bank closed 2.4 percent ahead of results. The private sector bank is expected to report over 50 percent fall in profit weighed down by doubling in provisions for bad loans which could pull the net profit by 52.7 percent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 955.7 crore, according to a Reuters poll.
Stocks in news:
Shares of PC Jeweller rose 38 percent as company is going to consider the proposal for buy back of fully paid-up equity shares on May 10, 2018.
Shares of Avenue Supermarts shed 1.7 percent despite strong numbers posted by the company in the quarter ended March 2018. The company's Q4 (Jan-March) net profit increased by 73 percent at Rs 167.1 crore against Rs 96.7 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.
Shares of Vakrangee were locked in 5 percent lower circuit after it has come under the radar of SEBI after auditor PwC has raised some concerns.
Shares of Lupin slipped 2.5 percent after Credit Suisse highlighted concerns over the volume loss in its diabetes franchise. The brokerage sees a downside of 9 percent on the stock.
Shares of Ambuja Cements fell nearly 1 percent as investors reacted to the company’s March quarter results. The firm on Friday has reported standalone profit at Rs 271.8 crore for the quarter ended March 2018, a growth of 10.3 percent over year-ago period.
Shares of Wockhardt fell 7.8 percent on the back poor earnings reported by company for the quarter ended March 2018. The company posted a loss of Rs 155 crore in the fourth quarter on account of reclassification of taxes post GST implementation in India apart from subdued business sentiment.
Exide Industries Ltd shares jumped 5.4 percent after the company reported a net profit of Rs 190 crore in the March 2018 quarter, up 15.8 percent from Rs164 crore last year, said a report. The March-quarter revenue from operations stood at Rs2,459 crore versus Rs2,204 crore a year ago.
Suven Life Sciences Ltd shares jumped 4.55 percent after the company said that USFDA has issued an establishment inspection report following conclusion of an inspection at their facility in Pashamylaram near Hyderabad, said a report.
In other news/Global Update:
Oil prices rose to their highest levels since late-2014 on Monday, boosted by Venezuela's deepening economic crisis and a looming decision on whether the United States will re-impose sanctions on Iran. Brent crude oil futures were at USD 75.63 per barrel, up 76 cents from their last close.
Gold prices shed earlier gains to edge lower on Monday, as the dollar held near a four-month peak, dampening the appeal of bullion. Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at USD 1,311.91 an ounce
Shakun Polymers has filed draft papers with capital markets regulator SEBI to float an initial public offering. The IPO comprises fresh issue of shares worth Rs 75 crore and an offer for sale of up to 18 lakh equity stocks by the existing shareholders.
India’s 10-year benchmark bond rallied early on Monday taking comfort from the central bank’s unexpected announcement last week about purchase of sovereign bonds via open market operation.
Globally, Asian markets ended the day on a mixed note even as investors looked to factor in rise in crude oil prices. The US crude clocked USD 70-mark for the first time since 2014. The benchmark Nikkei 225 ended the day little changed.
Meanwhile, European markets were largely flat. Stoxx 600 was up by 0.2 percent. In UK, markets are closed due to a public holiday.