Sensex soars 611 pts, Nifty ends above 25,000; metal shares rally

The key equity indices ended with strong gains on Monday, boosted by Federal Reserve Chair Powell's hint of potential interest rate cuts in the near future. The speech sparked a risk-on rally in global stock markets. The Nifty closed above the 25,000 level, with notable gains in metal, realty, and IT sectors. However, media and PSU bank stocks faced some selling pressure.

In the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 611.90 points or 0.75% to 81,698.11. The Nifty 50 index surged 187.45 points or 0.76% to 25,010.60.

Bajaj Finserv (up 2.84%), HDFC Bank (up 0.86%) and Reliance Industries (up 0.81%) boosted the indices.

 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.66% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.20%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2191 shares rose and 1857 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 1.78% to 13.80.

Economy:

Indias forex reserves jumped by $4.546 billion to $674.664 billion during the week ended August 16, according to the latest RBI data.

In the previous week, the forex kitty had dropped by $4.8 billion to $670.119 billion. On August 2, the overall reserves hit an all-time high of $674.919 billion.

The foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $3.609 billion to $591.569 billion, the RBI data showed.

Gold reserves increased by $865 million to $60.104 billion during the week ended August 16. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were up by $60 million to $18.341 billion.

Indias reserve position with the IMF was up by $12 million to $4.65 billion during the week, said the RBI.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper jumped 1.59% to 6.968 as compared with previous close of 6.859.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.8925, compared with its close of 83.9000 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 4 October 2024 settlement rose 0.59% to Rs 72,204.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.04% to 100.75.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for October 2024 settlement gained 1.85 cents or 2.40% to $79.07 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Most shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Monday, finding support from the anticipation of lower U.S. interest rates.

Regional markets drew initial strength from the positive performance of Wall Street, where the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average approached record highs on Friday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments reinforced expectations for a rate cut in September, with Powell stating that "the time has come" for a monetary policy adjustment.

In his speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Friday, Powell highlighted the factors contributing to recent inflation, including increased demand for goods, supply chain disruptions, tight labor markets, and rising commodity prices. He also clarified that the recent rise in the unemployment rate is primarily due to increased labor supply and slower hiring, rather than widespread layoffs.

The S&P 500 gained 1.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%, and the NASDAQ Composite surged 1.5%.

However, caution prevailed ahead of a series of crucial events this week. The most anticipated is the earnings report from NVIDIA Corporation, a market darling, which is due after the market closes on Wednesday. Additionally, the PCE price index data, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, is scheduled for later in the week.

Stocks in Spotlight:

The Nifty Metal index rallied 2.16% to settle at 9,490.75. NALCO (up 4.97%), SAIL (up 4.47%), Hindalco Industries (up 3.96%), Hindustan Copper (up 3.86%) and NMDC (up 3.35%) surged.

Global metal prices received a boost after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signalled that rate cuts are imminent during his Jackson Hole speech on Friday.

NIIT hit an upper limit of 20% after ace investor Ramesh Damani picked up a 0.59% stake in the firm via bulk deal on Friday.

Emcure Pharmaceuticals rose 2.16% to Rs 1414.95 after a foreign broker initiated coverage on the stock and assigned a price target of Rs 1,600.

Shilpa Medicare jumped 5.68% after successfully completing Phase-3 trials for a new fatty liver drug.

Max Estates climbed 7% after getting approval for its big Delhi One project in Noida. It adds 2.6 million square feet of development potential to the portfolio of Max Estates.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) rose 0.37%. The company announced that it has received orders worth over Rs 11,000 crore from Adani Power and its subsidiary Mahan Energen, to set up three supercritical thermal power projects.

Akums Drugs and Pharmaceuticals hit a lower circuit of 5%. The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 60.17 crore in Q1 FY25 compared with net loss of Rs 188.23 crore reported in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations was at Rs 1,019 crore in Q1 June 2024, up 5.06% against the corresponding quarter last year.

JSW Energy added 1.7% after the company said that that its wholly owned subsidiary, JSW Neo Energy has received letter of award (LoA) for setting up 250 MW grid-connected wind power project from Adani Electricity Mumbai.

KEC International rose 1.65% after the company said that it has secured new orders of Rs 1,079 crore in transmission & distribution (T&D) and cables businesses.

Shyam Metalics & Energy advanced 2.53% after the companys wholly-owned subsidiary, Shyam Sel and Power (SSPL) has acquired a 100% stake in SMEL Steel Structural, a promoter group company, for total consideration of Rs 1 lakh. SSPL purchased 10,000 equity shares in SMEL Steel Structural, which were previously held by Sheetij Agarwal and Shubham Agarwal (5000 shares each).

Symphony declined 0.8%. The household appliances company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) in China, Guangdong Symphony Keruilai Air Cooling Co, has incorporated a China-based unit, Dongguan GSK Appliances.

Transport Corporation of India slipped 3.53%. The company informed that its board approved share buyback of up to Rs 160 crore at a price of Rs 1,200 per equity share.

New Listing:

Shares of Interarch Building Products closed at Rs 1196.45 on the BSE, representing a premium of 32.94% as compared with the issue price of Rs 900.

The scrip was listed at Rs 1,291.20, exhibiting a premium of 43.47% to the issue price.

The stock has hit a high of 1,316 and a low of 1,178.55. On the BSE, over 6.47 lakh shares of the company were traded.

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