Domestic stock markets opened with a decline on the last day of the week. Before the RBI MPC decision, the Sensex was down 120 points and the Nifty was down around 50 points. Later a lot of ups and downs were seen. Barring gains in private banks and real estate, all sectoral indices were trading with losses. At 9:22 am, Sensex was trading 135 points lower at 83,178 and Nifty was trading 46 points lower at 25,582. Bank Nifty was trading at 60,104, up 40 points. A decline of more than 1% was seen in the IT and pharma sectors. Healthcare, metal, media, auto, and midcap and smallcap indices were also down. PSU banks, private banks and oil and gas sectors were trading with gains.
On Nifty, Bajaj Finance, TMPV, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, Titan, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank were among the gainers. The falling stocks included Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Max Healthcare, HCL Tech, ONGC, Asian Paints, Trent and BEL. Compared to the previous close, Sensex opened 64 points lower at 83,249, Nifty fell 37 points at 25,605 and Bank Nifty fell 96 points at 59,967. In the currency market, the rupee strengthened by 6 paise to open at 90.29/$. Sharp fall in global markets, selling pressure in cryptocurrencies and commodities, weak GIFT Nifty and RBI’s interest rate decision today will decide the direction of the market. Investors will also keep an eye on earnings results and FII-DII flows. This morning, GIFT Nifty was trading around 25,600, down about 135 points. Dow futures were also down nearly 200 points. This suggests that the domestic market may open under pressure.
RBI’s interest rate decision is the biggest trigger today
RBI will announce its monetary policy decision this morning. According to Zee Business Expert Poll, there will be no change in interest rates this time. The market will keep an eye on RBI’s comments along with the policy announcement, especially regarding inflation and growth outlook. The most complete coverage of monetary policy will be available continuously on Zee Business from 9:45 am onwards.
Heavy selling in American markets
US markets fell sharply due to heavy selling in tech stocks. The Dow Jones fell nearly 600 points, while the Nasdaq saw a massive decline of 365 points. Global risk-off sentiment may also affect the Indian market today.
Big fall in gold, silver and commodities
Heavy selling was seen in the commodity market. In the domestic market, silver fell by around Rs 25,000 to close below Rs 244,000, while gold fell by around Rs 1,000 to around Rs 152,000. In the global market, silver saw a sharp decline of almost 20%, and gold also fell by almost $200. Base metals remained under pressure for the second consecutive day due to strong dollar index.
Crude oil slips, focus on US-Iran talks
Crude oil fell nearly 3% to around $67 ahead of US-Iran talks. This may cause fluctuations in energy stocks and may also provide some relief to the market in case of inflation.