The steep decline in commodity prices has reversed.
Shares of most of the Adani group firms ended lower on Monday, with the group companies' combined mcap witnessing a sharp fall of Rs 9.5 lakh crore after US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research's adverse report.
The RBI's macroeconomic report released after the close of markets said upside risks to food inflation remain and that it expects the retail and wholesale price inflation to remain above comfort levels.
The rupee depreciated by 37 paise to close at 79.62 against the US dollar on Thursday despite sustained foreign capital inflows and a positive trend in equities. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 79.22 and saw an intra-day high of 79.22 and a low of 79.94 against the American currency. It finally ended at 79.62, down 37 paise over its previous close of 79.25.
The rupee has been under immense pressure due to a host of reasons including soaring crude oil prices, sustained foreign fund outflows and widening current account deficit.
The rupee had rebounded 15 paise to close at two-week high of 61.77 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on Friday.
The rupee depreciated 44 paise and slipped below the 81-mark against the US dollar for the first time in early trade on Friday, weighed down by the strong american currency and risk-off sentiment among investors. Forex traders said escalation of geopolitical risk in Ukraine and rate hikes by the US Fed and Bank of England in a bid to contain inflation sapped risk appetite. Further, the strength of the American currency in the overseas market, a negative trend in domestic equities, and risk-off moods amid escalation of geopolitical risk in Ukraine weighed on the local unit.
The rupee tumbled 19 paise to close at a fresh lifetime low of 77.93 against the US dollar on Friday as rising crude oil prices and unabated foreign capital outflows soured sentiment. A sell-off in equity markets and stronger greenback overseas also weighed on the domestic unit, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 77.81 and witnessed an intra-day high of 77.79 and a low of 77.93 against the US dollar.
Sliding for the fifth straight session, the rupee fell 3 paise to close at a fresh lifetime low of 79.06 against the US dollar on Thursday amid a strong greenback overseas and unrelenting foreign fund outflows. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 78.92 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 78.90 and a low of 79.07. It finally settled at 79.06, down 3 paise over its previous close of 79.03.
India's rupee is likely to remain under pressure due to high prices of crude oil and other commodities, and may stabilise at around 79-80 against the US dollar in the near term, say experts amid limited headroom available with the Reserve Bank to check the weakening of the domestic currency. The currency has slumped over 5 per cent this year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent international crude oil prices soaring to a decade high. On Monday, rupee ended at a fresh all-time low of 78.34 (provisional) against the US dollar.
Lower crude oil prices and a rally in domestic equities restricted the losses to some extent, forex dealers said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened weak at 79.50 per dollar.
Currently, trades on the Indian stock exchanges are settled within two days, just like most major markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, and South Korea. Indian exchanges, however, will be moving to T+1 settlement from February 25 in a phased manner.
The currency got support from dollar flows into local equities and greenback sales from state-run lenders.
'For the common man, the economic conditions are not going to get better.'
What do the fluctuating gold-silver price ratio portend?
Investors are anxious over the US-China trade tension, a sharp devaluation in yuan and uncertainty over Kashmir issue.
Increased selling of the dollar by banks and exporters amid sustained foreign capital inflows supported the rupee.
India's stock exchanges have decided to jointly introduce the T+1 settlement cycle in phases from February 25, beginning with the bottom 100 stocks by market capitalisation. From March 2022, on the last Friday (or the immediate next trading day) of every month, the next 500 stocks from the bottom will be subject to T+1 settlement. The phase-wise implementation is expected to give all market participants, including foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), ample time to shift to the shorter cycle. The settlement cycle represents the time period within which the stock exchanges have to settle security transactions.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday exuded confidence that inflation would further decline and the government is on track to meet its budgetary target for deficit and said that there is no fear of stagflation in India. Replying to the debate on first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants 2022-23 in Lok Sabha, the finance minister said inflation has come down and it is now in the tolerable band of the RBI. Inflation has been declining since April 2022 and it is declining further, she said.
Forex traders said a stronger dollar also dragged the rupee down.
The Reserve Bank's rate-setting panel will start its 3-day deliberations on Wednesday amid expectations of yet another rate hike of 50 basis points to check high inflation, in line with similar actions taken by other major central banks, including the US Fed. Based on the recommendations of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the RBI had effected 50 basis points increase in repo rate each in June and August after raising the short-term lending rate by 40 basis points in an off-cycle decision in May. The MPC, headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, is scheduled to meet during September 28-30.
Titan was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing over 4 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, Maruti, Reliance Industries, ONGC and UltraTech Cement.
IndusInd Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, falling over 5 per cent, followed by HDFC, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, SBI, Bajaj Finserv and Bharti Airtel.
ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring over 6 per cent, followed by SBI, HDFC, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Titan, Bajaj Auto and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, NTPC, Reliance Industries, Nestle India, HCL Tech and Infosys were among the laggards.
Other gainers included Nestle India, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, L&T, Axis Bank and Bajaj Auto. On the other hand, TCS, ONGC, Infosys, HDFC and SBI were among the laggards. NSE Nifty surged 121.65 points or 1.03 per cent to 11,889.40.
The employment situation remains dire. Whatever can be done to promote greater low-skill employment should be pursued aggressively, advises former chief economic adviser Shankar Acharya.
On the Sensex chart, HDFC, L&T, SBI, Axis Bank, Bajaj FinServ and HDFC Bank were major laggards - dropping up to 2.62 per cent. NSE Nifty closed with a loss of 164.85 points at 15,080.75.
Equity benchmark Sensex tanked over 1,000 points in the opening session on Friday tracking losses in index majors ICICI Bank, HDFC twins and Reliance Industries amid a negative trend in global markets.
PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging over 4 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, NTPC, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement and Kotak Bank. On the other hand, TCS, Nestle India, Reliance Industries and HCL Tech were among the laggards.
The 5-nation BRICS group on signed an agreement to create a $100 billion pool of foreign-exchange reserves to help each other.
On the Sensex chart, IndusInd Bank, SBI, Dr Reddy's, NTPC, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech and Bajaj FinServ emerged as major laggards.
Shares of Reliance Industries climbed around 3 per cent to hit a record closing high of Rs 2,060.65. SBI, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, ITC and Kotak Bank were among the other winners. NSE Nifty advanced 82.85 points, or 0.74 per cent, to close at 11,215.45.
IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 5 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Kotak Bank and Tech Mahindra. On the other hand, HDFC, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, NTPC and L&T were among the laggards.
Royal Bank of Scotland and JP Morgan were also fined over attempts to rig currency benchmarks in a year-long probe that has put the largely unregulated $5 trillion-a-day market on a tighter leash, with dozens of dealers suspended or fired.
In the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank was the top gainer, soaring around 8 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, ONGC, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma and M&M.
ITC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting over 2 per cent, followed by Infosys, Asian Paints, HCL Tech, Maruti, PowerGrid, ICICI Bank and TCS. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Auto were among the laggards. NSE Nifty rose 16.75 points or 0.14 per cent to close at 11,930.95.
HDFC Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 2 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti, Titan, SBI, HUL, HDFC and Tata Steel. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, M&M, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma and PowerGrid were among the gainers.
'For all of us at Amazon, it is 'Bharat first'.' 'We are keeping the Indian customer at the centre of what we are doing.'
Firm equity market failed to restrict the rupee's fall against the dollar
'The prospects for both India and the global economy is that we are headed towards a very difficult time.' 'I see very uncertain at least 8-10 months for both India and the rest of the world.'
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