Market Commentary - Mid-Session
Market tumbles in early trade; Nifty below 24,600 As on : 18-Oct-24  09:35

The domestic equity indices traded with steep losses in early trade. The Nifty tanked below the 24,600 level. Barring the Nifty Private Bank index, all the other sectoral indices on the NSE traded in red.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 568.70 points or 0.70% to 80,536.04. The Nifty 50 index declined 175.15 points or 0.71% to 24,579.20.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.23% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.86%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 621 shares rose and 2,256 shares fell. A total of 177 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 7,421.40 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 4,979.83 crore in the Indian equity market on 17 October 2024, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

LTIMindtree fell 3.95%. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 10.3% to Rs 1,251.6 crore in Q2 FY25 as compared with Rs 1,135.1 crore in Q1 FY25. Revenue from operations increased 2.8% QoQ to Rs 1,126.6 crore during the quarter.

Meanwhile, the company's board declared an interim dividend of Rs 20 per share of Re 1 each for FY25. The record date for the same is fixed at 25 October 2024.

Infosys slipped 2.56%. The company reported 2.2% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 6,506 crore on a 4.25% increase in revenue to Rs 40,986 crore in Q2 FY25 over Q1 FY25.

Meanwhile, the board declared an interim dividend of Rs 21 per equity share for the financial year 2024-25. The IT major fixed 29 October as a record date and 8 November 2024 as a payout date for the same.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced 1.86% to 6.910 as compared with previous close 6.896.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 84.0725, compared with its close of 84.0600 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 4 December 2024 settlement rose 0.58% to Rs 77,558.

The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.09% to 4.093.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for December 2024 settlement added 17 cents or 0.19% to $74.59 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks traded mixed on Friday, as investors assessed key economic data from China and Japan's inflation numbers.

Chinese GDP grew 4.6% year-on-year in the three months to September 30, but slowing from the 4.7% seen in the prior quarter. GDP grew 0.9% quarter-on-quarter, slightly missing expectations of 1%. This brought year-to-date GDP growth to 4.8%, still below Beijing's 5% annual target.

Separate data on Friday showed China's industrial production and retail sales both grew more than expected in September, while the country's unemployment rate fell to 5.1% against expectations it would remain at 5.3%. Meanwhile, China's house prices fell 5.8% year-over-year in September, a larger drop than 5.3% in August.

Japan's Core CPI, which excludes volatile fresh food items, grew 2.4% year-on-year in September, government data showed on Friday. The reading eased from the 2.8%- a 10-month high- seen in the prior month. A core reading that excludes both fresh food and energy prices, and is watched closely by the Bank of Japan as a gauge of underlying inflation, rose to 2.1% in September from 2% in the prior month. Headline CPI inflation fell to 2.5% from 3% in the prior month.

In the US market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to a new record close after strong economic data eased lingering fears of a potential recession. The blue-chip index rose 0.37% to 43,239.05, helped by a 9% gain for Travelers on the back of strong quarterly results. The Nasdaq Composite inched higher on Thursday after getting a boost from semiconductor names, and ultimately added 0.04%. The S&P 500 closed down 0.02%.

The technology sector, particularly chip stocks, led the market's rally, with companies like Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) posting significant gains. Positive US retail sales figures and lower-than-expected jobless claims further supported market sentiment.

September's US retail sales figures showed that consumer spending was still robust, with monthly spending rising 0.4%. Sales excluding autos shot up 0.5%, much hotter than the 0.1% forecast. Jobless claims in the US for the week that ended Oct. 12 were also lower than expected.

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