Sensex volatile after RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 4%; IndusInd Bank, Titan top gainers
Premium- Indian share markets turn volatile after RBI keeps rates unchanged. The Sensex is down 78 points, while the Nifty is trading lower by 27 points
Asian share markets are lower today, extending this week’s selloff fueled by concerns about the Federal Reserve's plans to aggressively tighten monetary policy to fight inflation.
The Nikkei erased losses and is up 0.1% while the Hang Seng fell 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite is trading lower by 0.1%.
In US stock markets, Wall Street indices recovered from an early slide and closed higher on Thursday.
The Dow Jones gained 0.3% while Nasdaq added 0.1%.
Back home, Indian share markets are trading on a positive note.
The BSE Sensex is trading down by 78 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 27 points.
IndusInd Bank and Titan are among the top gainers today. Tech Mahindra, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.
The BSE Mid Cap index is up 0.5%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.6%.
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Barring healthcare, all sectoral indices are trading in green with stocks in the power sector, energy sector and telecom sector witnessing most of the buying.
Shares of JK Paper and Bharat Electronics hit their 52-week highs today.
The rupee is trading at 75.95 against the US$.
Crude oil prices inched up but are set for a weekly loss after consuming countries agreed to release 240 million barrels of oil from emergency stocks to help offset disrupted Russian supply.
Gold prices are trading down by 0.2% at ₹51,800 per 10 grams.
Meanwhile, silver prices are trading up by 0.1% at ₹66,766 per kg.
In global markets, gold remained trapped in a tight range as the dollar firmed on prospects of aggressive interest rate hikes by the US Fed, partially offsetting safe-haven demand fueled by the lingering Russia-Ukraine conflict.
All eyes are on RBI’s crucial monetary policy announcement.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das today kept repo rate unchanged at 4%. It also kept reverse repo rate unchanged at 3.35%.
In the last 10 meetings, the MPC left interest rate unchanged and also maintained an accommodative monetary policy stance. The repo rate or the short-term lending rate was last cut in May 2020. Since then, the rate remains at a historic low of 4%.
Market participants are keenly watching the Reserve Bank of India's inflation and growth projections in the wake of the continued increase in oil and commodity prices.
In news from the banking space, HDFC Bank’s chief technology officer Ramesh Lakshminarayanan said it will not be a complex operation to integrate IT systems of HDFC and HDFC Bank.
The $40-bn merger between Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) and HDFC Bank was announced recently.
HDFC bank’s key focus will be to ensure front-end synergies, and it will also look at one IT platform to acquire and service customers of both entities, Lakshminarayanan said in an interview. He added the merger provides an opportunity to cross-sell both HDFC and HDFC Bank products.
Note that the merger comes amid a technology transformation prompted by regulatory diktat last year for HDFC Bank.
The RBI had barred HDFC Bank from new digital launches and issuance of credit cards until it addressed its digital issues. However, the restrictions were lifted later.
HDFC Bank share price is currently trading 0.3% lower.
Moving on to news from the automobile sector, Tata Motors on Thursday said it has bagged an order for 1,300 commercial vehicles from VRL Logistics.
The order comprises medium and heavy commercial vehicle and intermediate & light commercial vehicle range, suited for logistics operations of VRL Logistics.
The vehicles were selected based on the superior drivability, high fuel efficiency and low total cost of ownership, which will enable VRL Logistics to increase its fleet efficiency, Tata Motors said in a filing.
Tata Motors has operations in India, the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa, and Indonesia, supported by a global network of 103 subsidiaries, nine associate companies, four joint ventures and two joint operations as of March 2021.
Shares of Tata Motors are currently trading up by 0.7%.
You can watch the video where we compare Tata Motors with Maruti Suzuki and discuss whether it will overtake Maruti in 2022.
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(This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com)
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