ITC stock slipped over 4 per cent on Thursday (February 8) after British American Tobacco (BAT) said it could sell some of its stake in the company, recovering partially in trade. The stock of the cigarette-to-hotels conglomerate traded at Rs 420 levels, rising 1.3 per cent in intraday deals as compared to the S&P BSE Sensex that traded flat for most part of the day. The development, meanwhile, saw Jefferies downgrade the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' earlier with a target price of Rs 430, down a huge 17.3 per cent from its earlier price target of Rs 520.
The combined market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies hit an all-time high of Rs 337.67 lakh crore ($4 trillion) on Friday amid a rally in equities, mainly on account of favourable macroeconomic data and continuous foreign fund inflows. Rising for the fourth straight day, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 492.75 points or 0.74 per cent to settle at 67,481.19 points. During the day, it rallied 575.89 points or 0.85 per cent to 67,564.33 points.
Among the Sensex firms, ITC, NTPC, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints and Tata Steel were the major gainers. Mahindra & Mahindra, Wipro, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.
Investments into domestic shares through participatory notes (P-Notes) surged to the highest level in more than six-and-half years at Rs 2.65 lakh crore (about $43 billion) in October.
Market experts said the premiums were down from around 15 per cent before the Union Budget last week to 5-7 per cent at present. Long-only FIIs allocate funds for each market, which entails a certain premium, based on growth projections for the year.
Stock markets will be largely driven by global trends in the absence of any major domestic triggers this week, say analysts. The trading activity of foreign investors, global crude oil prices and rupee-dollar movement will also influence market movement, they said. "Anticipating a period of consolidation in the absence of clear global cues, the market's trajectory will likely hinge on the movement of the US bond yields, the dollar index, and crude oil prices, as well as institutional flows.
Mahindra & Mahindra was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, sliding 2.05 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, SBI, Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Titan. However, IT majors HCL Technologies and TCS defied the trend and gained 1.02 per cent and 0.47 per cent, respectively. FMCG firm Hindustan Unilever rose 0.32 per cent.
The rupee depreciated by 9 paise and settled at its all-time low level of 83.13 against the US dollar on Wednesday, weighed down by a surge in crude oil prices and strong American currency. Forex traders said the Indian rupee depreciated as the US dollar rose to the highest levels in six months. Moreover, elevated crude oil prices also weighed on rupee.
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Top sources in RBI blamed 'unwarranted rumours' about controls on foreign institutional investors' money to the nearly 770 point drop in the benchmark Sensex and rupee dipping to its lowest levels.
Draft guidelines say FIIs to be taxed, sub-accounts and non-treaty investors to be spared
Among the 19 Sensex firms that have disclosed their latest quarter shareholding pattern, FIIs have reduced their stake in only two companies - Coal India and Hero MotoCorp.
Market analysts believe that the FII inflow in India may continue in the next year as well, if the liquidity conditions remain strong.
Nearly 200 people were killed and about 350 injured in a spate of terror attacks that rocked the commercial capital for three days, exposing the vulnerability of the world's largest democracy to terrorist operations. Experts said those sectors like tourism, hospitality and automobile may also feel the heat of the negative sentiments after the recent attacks but is likely to regain the momentum in the short to medium term in line with the improving domestic situations.
In a move that would help boost flow of overseas funds into Indian capital markets, regulator Sebi allowed FIIs to offer government securities and corporate bonds as collaterals for their cash and derivative transactions on the stock exchanges.
ITC was the biggest loser from the Sensex pack, sliding 2.04 per cent, followed by Power Grid, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Nestle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance and JSW Steel. On the other hand, Titan, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra and Bharti Airtel were the gainers.
UltraTech Cement was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 2.43 per cent, followed by NTPC, Tata Motors, Infosys, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti, Wipro and SBI were the major gainers. In contrast, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance and JSW Steel were the major laggards.
Among the Sensex firms, UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Mahindra Bank and State Bank of India were the major gainers. In contrast, Tata Motors, Maruti, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, NTPC, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finserv were the major laggards.
Sun Pharma emerged as the biggest gainer from the Sensex pack, climbing 2.09 per cent, followed by ITC, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Infosys, L&T, JSW Steel, Reliance Industries and Kotak Mahindra Bank. UltraTech Cement, Maruti, HDFC Bank, Wipro, State Bank of India and NTPC were among the laggards.
Wipro was the biggest loser among Sensex firms, sliding 2.32 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, ITC, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors. IndusInd Bank, Maruti, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.
From the Sensex pack, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, NTPC and UltraTech Cement emerged as major winners, closing the day with a gain of up to 3.33 per cent. On the other hand, Asian Paints, ITC, L&T and SBI were the laggards, ending the session up to 3.95 per cent lower. Of the 30 Sensex stocks, 14 closed the day in green, while on the 50-stock index Nifty 25 scrips ended with gains.
Former governor of the Reserve Bank of India Bimal Jalan on Saturday said that taxing FII inflows will not serve any purpose and his successor Y V Reddy was misquoted on this issue.
Raising concern about over-dependence of Indian capital markets on foreign institutional investors, eminent banker Deepak Parekh has said that something needs to be done to change this pattern.
Let the fundamentals dictate investment decisions, not FII fund flows.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are set to pump in more funds in debt securities, as the next government under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to be a stable one and is seen as growth-oriented by market participants.
Capital market watchdog Sebi on Friday said foreign institutional investors have to, by October one, end the practice of investing money collected from a single or few investors in stocks, as a guard against manipulation.
Foreign institutional investments in equities soared by 43 per cent to over $9.43 billion this year pushing the Sensex to intra-day record high of 6,409 on Wednesday.
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As per the latest data compiled by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of Indiabi, the net investments by Foreign Institutional Investors into Indian equity markets stood at Rs 51,433 crore (Rs 514.33 billion) this year so far, while the same for debt markets was at Rs 52,115 crore (Rs 521.15 billion) taking the total to Rs 1,03,548 crore ($17 billion).
Monetary policy stance to depend on inflation data
Among the Sensex firms, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, Titan and Axis Bank were among the major laggards. Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti and Nestle were the gainers.
Among the Sensex firms, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, Wipro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra and JSW Steel were the major laggards. Power Grid, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra and NTPC were among the gainers.
The reduction in holdings comes at a time when technology firms are facing cross currency headwinds due to volatility in the global financial markets
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