Lauding India's ambitious space programme, The New York Times has said the country, currently witnessing an 'explosive' growth in space-tech start-ups, is set to 'transform the planet's connection to the final frontier' and can emerge as a 'counterweight' to China.
Gold prices on Thursday fell by Rs 180 to trade at Rs 26,870 per 10 grams at the bullion market.
As the Ukraine conflict impacts the global GDP, India is projected to grow by 6.4 per cent in 2022, slower than the last year's 8.8 per cent but still the fastest-growing major economy, with higher inflationary pressures and uneven recovery of the labour market curbing private consumption and investment, according to a UN report. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs said in its World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report released on Wednesday that the war in Ukraine has upended the fragile economic recovery from the pandemic, triggering a devastating humanitarian crisis in Europe, increasing food and commodity prices and globally exacerbating inflationary pressures. The global economy is now projected to grow by only 3.1 per cent in 2022, down from the 4.0 per cent growth forecast released in January 2022.
Globally, gold climbed 1.85 per cent to $1,230.70 an ounce.
Silver followed suit and eased by Rs 225 to Rs 42,775 per kg on reduced offtake by industrial units and coin makers.
The NSE Nifty ended 55.75 points, or 0.57 per cent, higher at 9,912.80 after moving between 9,925.75 and 9,882.
Markets and blue chip stocks may see a downward correction in short-to-medium term.
Top losers in the Sensex pack were Hero MotoCorp, HCL Tech, TCS, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank and Infosys, shedding up to 3.08 per cent.
Amid sustained weakness across categories, the Indian stock market remained below the trillion-dollar mark for the third consecutive day today, as the total valuation of all listed companies slipped further to $944 billion.
BSE Mid-cap index ended lower by over 2.5% and BSE Small-cap index tumbled over 3%.
The domestic currency has tumbled by 104 paise, or 1.63 per cent, in last six trading days.
The primary and immediate impact of a depreciating rupee is on the importers who will have to shell out more for the same quantity and price. However, it is a boon for the exporters as they receive more rupees in exchange for dollars. The rupee depreciation has wiped away some of the gains that would have accrued to India from international oil and fuel prices dropping to pre-Ukraine war levels.
Increased selling of the US dollar by exporters supported the rupee.
Traders said sustained offerings by stockists on the back of weak global trend, as investors weighed the outlook for the Fed's monetary policy after improving economic growth, mainly reduced demand for gold as an alternate investment.
The deluge of offerings in the primary market, a muted results season and increasing talks of a Fed taper may quicken the pace of overseas investors selling Indian equities in the near term. The next few weeks may see a dozen companies tap the market for initial public offerings and raise about Rs 30,000 crore. These include the likes of Zomato, Glenmark Life Sciences, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank and Seven Islands Shipping.
Gold prices plunged by Rs 200 to trade at Rs 27,000 per 10 grams at the bullion market on Thursday.
Chinese government was expected to start sales from its cotton reserves on March 6.
Gold in Singapore, which normally sets price trend on the domestic front, fell by 0.3 per cent to $1,180.78 an ounce.
The NSE Nifty, however, ended a shade higher by 6.65 points or 0.06 per cent at 10,442.20
Muted global trend after a report that US President Donald Trump was preparing to impose more tariffs on China hurt trading sentiments.
Can the Bajaj-Triumph tie up overtake the beloved Royal Enfield?
India's opening stocks of wheat in the central pool are expected to be 19.5-20 million tonnes as on April 1, 2022, the lowest in the last three years, but much higher than the normative level required for maintaining a buffer and strategic reserve, trade and market sources said. In accordance with the buffer and strategic reserve norms, India should have a wheat stock of 7.5 million tonnes in the central pool as on April 1 each year and this year's stocks, though the lowest in the last three years, will still be over 160 per cent more than what is required. On the export front, both government and trade sources are unanimous that this year (FY22) they will be 7-7.25 million tonnes, a record, while in the next financial year, they might touch even 10 million tonnes if the current momentum is maintained.
Silver eased by Rs 150 to Rs 37,100 per kg lacking necessary buying from industrial units.
If you firmly believe that all things must come to an end, then the decline in equity markets this week should come as no surprise.
Sensex gained 38.18 points or 0.15% at 25,918.95 and Nifty ended higher by 12.50 points or 0.16% at 7,739.55.
The market breadth was fairly positive - out of 2,724 stocks traded, 1,782 advanced, 858 declined and the rest were unchanged today.
The merits and demerits of the telcos' 5G strategy however is clearly dependent on the financial muscle of players, reports Surajeet Das Gupta.
Investor wealth slumped by Rs 1.55 lakh crore on Thursday today, dragged down by massive selling in the stock markets where nearly seven out of ten shares closed lower.
The external environment has worsened further. While the Finnish economy entered into a recession, Swedish economic growth also dipped. The Finnish gross domestic product (GDP) dropped 0.6 per cent in October-December, 2022. It was the second quarter of negative growth, which is a technical definition of recession.
In the Sensex kitty, ITC turned star performer by surging 2.45 per cent, followed by NTPC rising 2.19 per cent.
HCL Tech was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 per cent, followed by Infosys, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and M&M. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank Bank, Power Grid, Sun Pharma and Asian Paints were among the laggards.
The domestic currency had lost 49 paise to close at a three-month low of 60.55 on Thursday on capital outflows after the US Fed trimmed its monthly bond buying programme by another $10 billion.
From the 30-share pack, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, TCS, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Wipro and HCL Technologies were among the major laggards in early trade. Nifty tumbled 314.95 points to 17,160.70.
Sources say Apple is currently looking for a professional who can advise the company in dealing with the government.
Sensex has lost 1,623.43 points or 9.24 per cent in the eight sessions straight.
'A soft landing of the Indian economy would be a long-term positive for the equity markets.'
Globally, gold fell by 0.24 per cent to $1,182.80 an ounce and silver shed 0.72 per cent to $15.89 an ounce in London.
Both the Sensex and Nifty hit their lowest levels in this calendar year.
"There are 4.55 million broadband-connected SME PCs, of which 13 per cent are expected to be the hosted exchange opportunity. Email is expected on every fourth phone to be sold in India in the next four years. Enterprise customers now want to access email, calendar, attachments and more wherever they are, on choice of their device --a big opportunity for telcos, Internet service providers and systems integrators," said Dayakar Puskoor, executive chairman, GlobalOutlook.
Bajaj Finserv was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring around 8 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and SBI.
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