TMS Ep165: RBI rate hike, Shanghai pile-up, markets, stock consolidation

In a surprise announcement, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said that the Monetary Policy Committee has unanimously voted to increase the repo rate by 40 basis points, to 4.40 per cent with immediate effect. The repo rate has been increased for the first time since August 2018. What will be its impact on the economy? Also what will be the impact on homebuyers, borrowers and FD investors? 
 
While the RBI’s rate hike signals the end of low interest regime for home buyers, China’s new lockdown measures have also put the consumer durables-buyers in India at unease. The backlog of cargo and container ships near Shanghai port is likely to affect the consumer durables market, which heavily depends on components from China. As inventories of TV, AC and refrigerator-makers in India could reportedly start drying up from mid-May, we analyse the looming crisis to understand its impact on consumers.    
 
Back to the markets, the out-of-policy hike in repo rate by 40 basis points, and a 50 bps hike in the cash reserve ratio by the Reserve Bank of India took investors by surprise on Wednesday.  The decision came unexpectedly and on the opening day of LIC’s IPO. With the RBI getting more hawkish than expected, what does the road ahead looks like for the markets?
 
Apart from a bull and bear trend, markets also witness phases of consolidation. In today’s decoded, we delve into what is a consolidation phase, how to identify it and trade during such a phase. Let’s find out in this episode of the podcast.