Stock Market LIVE Updates, Thursday, December 19, 2024: Benchmark Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were trading lower on Thursday, tracking the decline on Wall Street following the US Fed's hawkish commentary.
At 12 PM, the BSE Sensex was down 908.78 points, or 1.13 per cent at 79,273.42, and the Nifty 50 was at 23,964.15, down 234.70 points, or 0.97 per cent.
In the afternoon, in the 30-stock BSE Sensex, only three stocks, including Power Grid Corp., (up 0.34 per cent), followed by Sun Pharma, and Bharti Airtel, were trading with some gains, while losses were led by Asian Paint (down 2.35 per cent), followed by Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, and JSW Steel.
On the Nifty 50, 12 out of the 50 stocks were trading higher, with gains led by Dr Reddy's (up 3.54 per cent), followed by BPCL, Cipla, Hero MotoCorp, and Tata Consumer Products, while losses were led by Asian Paint (down 2.38 per cent), followed by Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, and Grasim Industries.
Across sectors, the Pharma index was the top gainer, climbing 1.21 per cent, followed by the Healthcare and Oil & Gas indices, while among the laggards, the IT index was the top drag, falling 1.31 per cent, followed by Financial Services, Metal, Consumer Durables, Bank, Auto and FMCG indices.
In the broader markets, meanwhile, the Nifty Smallcap index was lower by 0.40 per cent and the Nifty Midcap 100 was behind by 0.37 per cent.
While the US Federal Reserve cuts its benchmark funds target rate range by a widely expected 25 bps to a range of 4.25 per cent and 4.5 per cent, its hawkish commentary about a slower pace of policy easing in 2025 that spurred a significant fall in Wall Street's benchmark indices is likely to continue pressuring Indian markets.
Moreover, the continued selling of Indian equities by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in favour of more attractive markets, is also likely to add to the downward pressure.
However, India's primary market is lined up to see heightened action today, with five mainline IPOs, including DAM Capital Advisors IPO, Transrail Lighting IPO, Concord Enviro Systems IPO, Sanathan Textiles IPO, and Mamata Machinery IPO, opening for subscription today, along with New Malayalam Steel IPO opening in the SME section.
Shares of Inventurus Knowledge Solutions IPO (mainline) and Yash Highvoltage IPO (SME) will list on the bourses, while subscription for NACDAC Infrastructure IPO (SME) will close today and Identical Brains Studios IPO (SME) will enter its second day of subscription.
The Federal Reserve adjusted a key part of its rate control toolkit on Wednesday, lowering the rate it offers on its reverse repo facility by more than it cut the federal funds rate. The Fed said that the reverse repo rate will now stand at 4.25 per cent from its prior level of 4.55 per cent, marking a 30 basis point easing, while it lowered the federal funds target rate range by a quarter percentage point to between 4.25 per cent and 4.5 per cent.
READ MORE Elsewhere, concerned that aggressive fiscal consolidation could hinder growth momentum while private capital expenditure remains sluggish, the Indian government is expected to set the fiscal deficit target at 4.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) for FY26 in the upcoming Budget.
READ MORE That apart, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday approved tighter regulations for listing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), broadened the scope of price-sensitive information, and overhauled regulations governing investment bankers.
READ MORE In the secondary markets, the performance of banking and information technology (IT) stocks has had a significant impact on
the composition of diversified mutual fund (MF) portfolios. Over the past two months, these sectors have become increasingly dominant, now constituting nearly 30 per cent of the total allocation in many diversified MF portfolios.
READ MORE On Wednesday, benchmark equity indices declined for the third consecutive day amid continued selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). The Sensex fell 502 points, or 0.6 per cent, to end at 80,182, while the Nifty 50 fell 137 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 24,199.FPIs on Wednesday sold shares worth Rs 1,317 crore, extending their three-day selling to Rs 8,000 crore.
Broader markets also mirrored the benchmarks, with Nifty Midcap100 and Nifty Smallcap100 indices ending lower by 0.64 per cent and 0.87 per cent, respectively. Sectoral indices ended broadly in the red, barring IT, Pharma, and Healthcare indices. Banking stocks were the top laggards among sectors, as Bank Nifty, PSU Bank, and Private Bank indices ended lower by up to 1.92 per cent. Among others, the Nifty Financial Services index, Media, and Consumer Durables ended down by up to 2.24 per cent.
Markets in the Asia-Pacific region fell on Thursday morning, tracking broad declines on Wall Street. Investors in Asia are looking ahead to an interest rate decision by the Bank of Japan after its two-day policy meeting. The central bank is expected to leave its target rate unchanged at 0.25 per cent. Meanwhile, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 0.93 per cent while the Topix lost 0.49 per cent.
In South Korea, the Kospi declined 1.81 per cent and the Kosdaq index was down by 2.13 per cent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 1.4 per cent lower.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was behind by 1.34 per cent and mainland China's CSI 300 was lower by 1.14 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite was behind by 1 per cent.
Wall Street closed sharply lower on Wednesday, with the Dow falling over 1,100 points after the US Federal Reserve delivered a rate cut as expected but signaled it will ease the pace of further cuts in the coming year.
For the Dow it was its tenth consecutive daily loss, marking its longest losing streak since 1974 and its biggest daily percentage decline since early August. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 also logged their largest one-day drops in months. Benchmark Treasury yields moved higher on the news, and the dollar gained.
As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) cut the Fed funds target rate by 25 basis points at the conclusion of its final policy meeting of 2024.
But the central bank also reduced the number of projected rate cuts in the coming year. The policymakers now expect two interest rate cuts by the end of 2025, down from four in September, and set up the likelihood of a pause in January.
In his subsequent press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell offered assurances that the economy is strong, inflation has come closer to the 2 per cent goal, and monetary policy is well-positioned to deal with risks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,123.03 points, or 2.58 per cent, to 42,326.87, the S&P 500 fell 178.57 points, or 2.95 per cent, to 5,872.03 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 716.37 points, or 3.56 per cent, to 19,392.69.
Earlier, European shares closed modestly higher, buoyed by technology stocks and French automaker Renault, but gains were held in check ahead of the Fed's rate decision.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell 8.93 points, or 1.03 per cent, to 855.09.
The STOXX 600 index rose 0.15 per cent, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 2.56 points, or 0.13 per cent.
Emerging market stocks fell 0.39 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 1,092.81. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed lower by 0.05 per cent, to 579.42, while Japan's Nikkei fell 282.97 points, or 0.72 per cent, to 39,081.71.
Yields for 10-year US Treasuries gained after the Fed flagged the slower pace of easing.
The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes rose 11.3 basis points to 4.498 per cent, from 4.385 per cent late on Tuesday.
The 30-year bond yield rose 7.3 basis points to 4.6525 per cent from 4.579 per cent late on Tuesday.
The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose 10.5 basis points to 4.346 per cent, from 4.241 per cent late on Tuesday.
The dollar extended its gains against a basket of world currencies as investors digested the Fed's revised outlook. The dollar index rose 1.09 per cent to 108.09.
Bitcoin accelerated its losses after Powell said the Fed has no desire to hold the cryptocurrency amid debate over whether the incoming Trump administration might build a bitcoin reserve. Bitcoin fell 5.17 per cent to $100,916.00. Ethereum declined 6.14 per cent to $3,692.50.
Oil prices settled higher in the wake of the Fed's decision. US crude rose 0.71 per cent to settle at $70.58 per barrel, while Brent settled at $73.39 per barrel, up 0.27 per cent on the day.
Gold fell in opposition to the greenback. Spot gold fell 1.94 per cent to $2,594.24 an ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 2.05 per cent to $2,590.20 an ounce. (With inputs from Reuters.)
 "Stock Market LIVE Updates: IT, Financials drag, Pharma, Health gain; Sensex slips 900 pts to 79,250")
