PremiumMarkets are roiling as Federal Reserve officials signal they won’t shy away from more-aggressive action to tame the fastest inflation in four decades. Commodity prices have staged erratic rallies amid supply pressures and sanctions as Russia’s attacks on Ukraine show no sign of abating, and mounting concerns about the impact on the global economy leave investors struggling to identify havens.
Aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney (PW) on Thursday said issues with the company's gear turbo fan (GTF) engines that power Airbus A320neo have been addressed and the company expects more orders from Indian airlines in the near future.
“We have worked with the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) and airlines and our engine powered aircraft is working fine in India today," Mark S Cryan, Vice President -customer relations for India, PW, said at the Wings India 2022 event.
European shares inched higher on Thursday, helped by gains in defensive sectors amid worries over the deepening crisis in Ukraine as Western nations planned more sanctions on Russia.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2% with utilities and consumer staples in the lead. Material stocks fell 0.3%, limiting the index's advance.
India has friendly relations with both the United States and Russia that stand on their own merit, the foreign ministry told parliament on Thursday, in reply to a query whether the Ukraine war had affected ties.
Over the past decade, India has grown closer to the United States in the face of a resurgent China across the border, but Russia remains its biggest arms supplier.
India is the only major country close to the United States that not to have condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine or imposed any sanctions on it.
Airbus SE said on Thursday it expects Indian airlines to order 2,210 jetliners over the next 20 years, making up about 6% of the European manufacturer's projected global deliveries during the period.
The world's largest civil planemaker expects 1,770 deliveries of narrow-body planes such as its best-selling A320, which make up the bulk of the Indian market, with the remainder being wide-body planes, Brent McBratney, head of airline marketing for India and South Asia, said at an air show.
Proliferation of low-cost carriers has spurred growth in narrow-body planes in India, while long-haul travel is a largely untapped market, he told reporters. Airbus in November said it expects a market total of 39,020 jetliner deliveries over the next 20 years, fractionally lower than the 39,213 it forecast two years ago.
The board of directors of Maruti Suzuki India Limited, in its meeting held today, appointed Hisashi Takeuchi as the managing director and chief executive officer with effect from 1 April 2022, consequent to the completion of Kenichi Ayukawa's term on 31 March 2022.
In order to facilitate smooth transition, Ayukawa will continue as a whole-time director designated as executive vice chairman till 30 September, 2022, and will continue to provide guidance to the company.
These appointments are subject to shareholders’ approval.
North Korea test-fired a suspected long-range missile toward the sea Thursday, its neighbors' militaries said. The launch, which extended North Korea’s barrage of weapons tests this year, came after the U.S. and South Korean militaries said the country was preparing a flight of its biggest-yet intercontinental ballistic missile.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff didn’t immediately say whether the weapon involved in the launch was ballistic or how far it flew. But Japan's Vice Defense Minister Makoto Oniki said the missile, which reached a maximum altitude of 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles), was possibly a new type of ICBM.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi drew a rebuke from the Indian government ahead of his expected but unconfirmed visit to New Delhi on Friday, upsetting his hosts with remarks made in Pakistan this week concerning the disputed Kashmir region.
Relations between the two nuclear armed Asian powers turned chilly two years ago after a deadly border clash in the Ladakh region of Kashmir, and Wang would be the first high-level Chinese official to visit since that time.
Attending a conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Pakistan on Tuesday, Wang said that "China shares the same hope" as the OIC on Kashmir, a Muslim majority region which both India and Pakistan rule in part but claim in full.
A global recession is unlikely despite the raging war in Ukraine, Barclays said on Thursday, even as the brokerage cut its 2022 growth forecast to 3.3% from 4.4% before the conflict.
Barclays, which also raised its global inflation expectations to 5.6% from 3.2%, said the main impact of the war is a supply side shock for both energy and food.
"Higher prices for energy and food will squeeze real wages, dragging consumption lower and complicating the growth/inflation trade-off for central banks," Barclays economists wrote.
The Nifty metal index logged a resolute breakout above the last five month’s consolidation range (6312-5174) with a higher base formed in the vicinity of 100 days EMA, highlighting robust price structure. Going ahead, we expect Nifty Metal index to continue its relatively outperformance and head towards 6750 levels as it is the 138.2% external retracement of the recent breather (6312-5174)
Top Picks: Tata Steel and Vardhaman Special Steels
Gold prices were in a range-bound trade on Thursday, as markets exercised caution over the Russia-Ukraine conflict and ahead of U.S. inflation data that could offer fresh clues about the policy stance from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,939.93 per ounce. U.S. gold futures were up 0.2% at $1,941.10.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd said that along with its US-based arm Ranbaxy, Inc, it has signed a $485 million settlement with two plaintiff groups regarding Ranbaxy generic drug application antitrust litigation.
The company and its arm have signed a binding term sheet with two plaintiff groups, the Direct Purchaser and End-Payor Plaintiffs, collectively resolving all of the claims against the company, it said in a filing to the exchanges.
Stocks were mixed Thursday in Asia following a retreat on Wall Street as crude oil prices rose sharply.
Tokyo and Shanghai were lower while Hong Kong and Sydney edged higher. U.S. futures rose and U.S. benchmark crude oil fell back.
After a rally last week, markets have been up and down this week as investors weigh concerns about rising inflation and slower economic growth.
Russia was to reopen its stock market for limited trading on Thursday nearly one month after shares plunged and the exchange was shut down following the invasion of Ukraine.
Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) has increased the price of domestic piped natural gas (PNG) by ₹1 per standard cubic meter (SCM). effective Thursday.
According to IGL, PNG will cost ₹36.61 per unit in Delhi and ₹35.86 per unit in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. People in Gurugram will need to pay ₹34.81 per SCM while in Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Shamli, the new rate is ₹39.37 per SCM.
The move will affect more than 72 lakh domestic households.
Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, on Wednesday bought 3 million barrels of Russian Urals and 2 million barrels of West African oil through a tender for May loading, trade sources said.
Urals crude has been purchased from trader Vitol on delivered basis at a "discount", they said.
This is the second purchase of Urals by IOC since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. It bought similar volumes of Urals from Vitol earlier this month for delivery in May.
The invasion has prompted a barrage of sanctions that have limited Russia's ability to do business in major currencies and hit several of its banks and state-owned enterprises.
For this session, 17350 followed by 17450 are to be seen as immediate hurdles; whereas on the flip side, we can see a cluster of strong supports around 17100 - 17000.
We reiterate that the low-hanging fruit is gone for index-specific trades, but stocks are still providing good trading opportunities. Hence, one should keep focusing on individual themes and try to identify the potential movers within the same.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is likely to sell up to 40 million shares, or 2.02% of stake, in Kotak Mahindra Bank on Thursday through block deals, according to media reports. The Canadian pension fund will likely raise as much as ₹7,079 crore through the stake sale. The floor price has been fixed at ₹1,681.26 - 1,769.75 apiece.
The market is likely to see a gap down opening as weakness in SGX Nifty and overnight fall in US indices will give bears an early edge…Technically speaking, the make-or-break support for Nifty is seen at psychological 17000 mark. Below Nifty's 17000 zone, expect a waterfall of selling which could take the index down to 16691 mark with inter-week perspective.
"We are pleased with the Bombay High Court’s ruling, which we view as an important reaffirmation of shareholder rights in India and the mechanisms under Indian law to hold Boards accountable to their shareholders. The ruling is a boon for corporate governance in India and a win for shareholder democracy.
Since we announced our intention to requisition an EGM and add six independent directors to Zee’s Board of Directors, Zee has entered into a merger agreement with Sony. We continue to believe this deal in its current form has great potential for Zee shareholders. We also recognize that, following the merger’s consummation, the board of the newly combined company will be substantially reconstituted, which will achieve our objective of strengthening board oversight of the company. Given these developments, and our desire to facilitate the transaction, we have decided not to pursue the EGM as per our requisition dated 11 September 2021.
Invesco will continue to monitor the proposed merger’s progress. If the merger is not completed as currently proposed, Invesco retains the right to requisition a fresh EGM."
Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global together hold nearly 18% stake in the firm. Both Zee and Invesco had accused each other of corporate governance lapses.
Oil futures extended gains on Thursday, after sharply rising in the first portion of the week, as traders weighed additional supply disruptions following reports of storm damage at a major export terminal system on the Black Sea.
Brent futures were up about $1.06, or 0.9%, to $122.66 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up about 79 cents, or 0.7%, to $115.68 a barrel. U.S. futures opened the session down slightly.
Both contracts have posted steep gains this week, with Brent futures up more than $14 a barrel, or 13%, since Monday and WTI climbing over $10 a barrel, or 10%, over that time period as worries over supply disruptions have intensified along with the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Oil markets jumped more than 5% on Wednesday following reports that crude exports from Kazakhstan's Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal had completely halted following storm damage. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister said oil supplies could be stopped for two months.
Nifty and Bank Nifty both are still holding above their 5 days EMA placed at 17,138 and 35,971 respectively. Traders should continue to hold long Nifty positions with 17,100 as stop loss.
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 52.50 points lower at 17,203.50, indicating a weak start for Indian benchmarks.
Stocks in Asia followed the retreat in global equities from several sessions of gains, while oil resumed climbing in markets roiled by concerns about inflation and the impact of the war in Ukraine. Treasuries gave up a brief rally.
An MSCI Inc. gauge of Asia-Pacific equities fell for the first day in three as equities in Japan, Hong Kong and China slipped. U.S. futures wavered after the S&P 500 erased the prior session’s gains, and European contracts slid.
Oil advanced to trade around $116 a barrel as the U.S. readies more sanctions on Russia as soon as Thursday. The extreme volatility in commodity markets caused by the conflict and global response is sapping liquidity.
S&P 500 futures were little changed and so were Nasdaq 100 futures. Euro Stoxx 50 futures slid 0.5%.
Topix index fell 1.2%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was steady, Kospi index fell 1%, Hang Seng Index lost 0.9%, and Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.7%.
Overnight, US stocks fell broadly on Wall Street as a wave of selling all but wiped out gains from a day before and left the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average in the red for the week. The S&P 500 fell 1.2%, with more than 80% of the stocks in the benchmark index closing lower. The Dow and Nasdaq composite each slid 1.3%.
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