Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 15.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific markets are largely up ahead of China’s announcement for its one-year and five-year loan prime rates on Monday. The one-year and five-year LPR currently stands at 3.55% and 4.2% respectively. Reuters reported that in a poll of 35 market watchers, all participants predicted cuts to both rates, after China’s central bank unexpectedly lowered the medium-term lending facility rate last week. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,794, pointing to a weaker open compared with its Friday close of 17,950.85. That was the first time the index went below the 18,000 mark this year and the lowest it has been since November 2022. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.13%, but other markets were all up. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.31% and the Topix rose 0.28%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.45%, while the Kosdaq was up 0.38%.
US S&P 500 futures were little changed on Sunday night after another losing week for the major averages. Futures tied to the broader index ticked up by 0.03%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dipped 7 points, or by 0.02%. Meanwhile, Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.18%. Palo Alto Networks jumped 11% in extended trading after reporting earnings results late Friday that topped analysts’ estimates. As of Friday’s close, the stock was down by 16% this month. Investors are coming off a mixed session on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 25.83 points, or 0.07% higher. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 edged down 0.01%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2%.
Stocks News:
👉Jio Financial Services: Jio Financial Services (formerly, Reliance Strategic Investments), a demerged entity of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, will be listed on the exchanges on August 21. The exchanges in their circular said the scrip would be in Trade-for-Trade segment for 10 trading days. Meanwhile, Jio Financial Services will continue to remain in the FTSE Indices, and will be added to the MSCI Global Standard Index on August 23.
👉Mahindra & Mahindra: The SUV manufacturer has announced proactive inspection of select XUV products. The company will inspect wiring loom routing in the engine bay of 1,08,306 units of XUV700 manufactured between June 8, 2021 to June 28, 2023 for a potential risk of abrasion cut of wiring loom. Also, 3,560 units of XUV400 vehicle manufactured between February 16 to June 5, 2023, will be inspected for ineffective spring return action of the brake potentiometer. The inspection and subsequent rectification will be carried out free of cost for all customers, who will be individually contacted by the company.
👉Titan: Watch and jewellery retailer Titan Company Ltd. has increased its shareholding in CaratLane Trading Private Ltd. to 98.28% from 71.09%, paying ₹4,621 crore for the additional stake buy, the company said in a filing to the exchanges. Titan had first acquired a 62% stake in CaratLane in 2016 for ₹357.24 crore making it a subsidiary of the company, and had subsequently raised its stake in the omni-channel jewellery retailer. CaratLane, a subsidiary of Titan Company, was founded in 2008 by Mithun Sacheti and Srinivasa Gopalan.
👉KEC International: The RPG Group company has secured new orders worth Rs 1,007 crore across its various businesses. The civil business has secured its first order for design, engineering, procurement and construction of a multi-speciality hospital in India, while transmission and distribution business has secured a substantial order for a 380 kV overhead transmission line project in the Middle East.
👉Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 266.98 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased Rs 339.18 crore worth of stocks on August 18, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.
Domestic and International Events
- To mitigate the impact of rising prices, the government has taken several steps. These include reducing retail prices for specific stocks of tomatoes through various agencies, imposing export bans on certain categories of rice, and releasing wheat into the open market under the open market sale scheme, all aimed at stabilizing prices of essential commodities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the nation on the 77th Independence Day, acknowledged the global challenge of high inflation and its implications for India’s import-dependent economy. He stressed that India, despite being better positioned than many other nations, must continue to take measures to ease the burden of rising prices on its citizens. In a move towards that commitment, on August 19, the government announced a 40% export duty on onions until the end of 2023.
- The government on Sunday announced that it has raised the quantum of onion buffer to five lakh metric tonne this year, after achieving the initial procurement target of three lakh metric tonne. Consumer affairs department has also directed National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) to procure around one lakh metric tonne of onions to further achieve the additional procurement target. Alongside procurement the said bodies will retail onions at Rs 25 per kg through outlets and mobile vans of NCCF from August 21 2023.
- Oil prices rose about 1% on Friday on signs of slowing US output, but both crude benchmarks also ended their longest weekly rally of 2023 on mounting concerns about global demand growth. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 86 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $81.25 a barrel, and Brent crude futures rose 68 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $84.80 a barrel.
- Gold was little changed on Friday, but bullion was bound for its third straight weekly dip as recent sound U.S. economic data raised bets for interest rates staying higher for longer. Spot gold was steady at $1,887.79 per ounce by 2:22 p.m. ET (1822 GMT), down 1.4% for the week so far. US gold futures settled 0.1% higher at $1,916.5.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 17,951 | (2.1) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,132 | (1.0) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 34,501 | 0.1 % |
| DAX | 15,574 | (0.7) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,262 | (0.7) % |
| Nikkei | 31,451 | (0.6) % |
| Straits Times | 3,174 | (0.7) % |
