Currently, onion is being sold at Rs 36 per kg in retail markets of the national capital and Rs 32 per kg each in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, according to the Consumer Affairs Ministry that monitors prices of 22 essential food items.
The upcoming July derivatives expiry later in the week would also add some volatility to the market proceedings.
Maruti, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda saw their passenger vehicle sales improve in August compared to the same month last year, although Ford and Toyota witnessed a decline.
n the broader market, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are trading higher by 0.3% each.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended up 129 points at 26,843 and the Nifty50 ended up 39 points at 8,220.
'This may be good news for Rahul Gandhi, for no matter how Modi performs, there will always be some degree of dissatisfaction with his performance among large sections of voters,' says R Jagannathan.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan expressed anguish at the banks' reluctance to pass on benefits of the earlier rate cuts.
RBI will cut rates in its next policy announcement on June 2.
He also affirmed that over time, as the government finances improve, the SLR will be brought down further.
In the third of a six-part series T E Narasimhan finds out how the hub of India's firecrackers industry is coping after more than a month of the note ban.
The repo rate or the short term lending rate was increased to 7.5 per cent from 7.25 per cent.
Tata Motors (down 1.7%) was the top loser on Sensex and Nifty, while Lupin (1.6%) gained the most.
Technical rallies and short covering may arise only if the markets break this 500 point band
Disagreeing with Reserve Bank's projection on the price situation, former RBI Governor and PM's Economic Advisory Council chairman C Rangarajan said WPI and CPI may not be as high as being projected by the central bank.
Demonetisation will wipe out the likely benefits of a good monsoon this year, says Christopher Wood of CLSA.
Binu Alex, co-founder and editorial director of www.commodityonline.com, in an interview to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com, says demand-supply imbalance arising out of the government's inability to preserve the crop for non-harvesting season is the root cause behind the price rise.
Rate-sensitive sectors like banks, realty and auto witnessed heavy selling pressure ahead of the RBI Monetary policy which is scheduled on September 29.
It is only 'zero-cost' money from FPIs that is keeping the market afloat
A logjam on the GST front could turn things upside down and turmoil in Gujarat might also have an adverse impact
'It is almost four years since we've seen strong growth in earnings.' 'The markets have rallied about 20 per cent in the past year, which is ahead of earnings.' 'So, the stress now will be on earnings to catch up.'
Traders are waiting for the earnings season to kick off.
The government will unveil the Consumer Price Index data and the Wholesale Price Index data for August on Monday.
Gold is currently ruling at Rs 30,050 per 10 grams.
BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended in line with their larger counterparts and closed marginally up 0.2% and 0.4%, each
Markets ended weak tracking the expiry of April derivative contracts.
RBI said inflation in the second half of the current fiscal is projected at 2.7-3.2%. It retained its GDP forecast for the current fiscal at 7.4%
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to keep monetary policy steady in June despite sluggish economic activity as inflation remains elevated, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.
The sharp fall in rupee since the beginning of May will make things difficult for the central bank which is on the path of easing the monetary policy to revive growth.
The Reserve Bank of India kept interest rates on hold at 7.50 per cent.
Inflation moderates, but a rate cut is unlikely.
Home and kitchen appliances, electronic products, apparel and B-segment cars stand to gain.
Benchmark share indices gained for the fifth straight session on Thursday led by index heavyweight Reliance Industries.
HUL, the country's largest FMCG company, saw sales volume fall by 4% for the December quarter.
Raghuram Rajan remains focused on a long-term inflation target of 4 percent.
The Sensex closed down 308 points at 24,894 and the Nifty has lost 96 points at 7,559.
Between April 2 and July 8 this fiscal, the rupee has plummeted by 12.81 per cent, and hit all-time low of 61.21 per cent on Monday.
The implications aren't too significant, given the size of Ukraine and its role in the global economy.
A downturn in Indian demand could hit global gold prices.
The revision will do little to help the Congress party-led ruling alliance, which faces an uphill battle in elections due by May amid allegations of economic mismanagement, corruption scams and high inflation.
