India : Nifty opens at 8650, Sensex up over 100 pts; banks rise
MUMBAI : The market has opened higher reacting positively to the minutes of Federal Reserve. The Sensex is up 125.97 points or 0.4 percent at 28131.34, and the Nifty is up 33.05 points or 0.4 percent at 8657.10. About 550 shares have advanced, 175 shares declined, and 24 shares are unchanged.
Dr Reddy’s Labs, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI are gainers while Wipro, GAIL, Coal India, L&T and Bajaj Auto are losers in the Sensex.
The Indian rupee opened lower by 9 paise at 66.85 per dollar on Thursday versus 66.76 Tuesday.
Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “Despite strong payroll data, currency markets still believe that there will be no Fed rate hike in CY16. We expect the USD-INR pair to trade in a range of 66.70-66.95/dollar for the day.”
Even as the central government finally succeeded in passing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitutional Amendment Bill in Parliament recently, it is learnt that the standard GST rate could be closer to 22 percent when the tax is rolled out, instead of the widely-expected figure of 18 percent. Sources in the government have told CNBC-TV18’s Sapna Das that the current estimates being drawn out in North Block have worked out a GST rate of 22 percent that will likely be most amenable to states. The GST, 10 years in the making, will replace almost all state- and central-level indirect taxes and levies with a single tax and the eventual rate could cause much bickering between states and the Centre.
India Cements is likely to post net profit at Rs 33 crore in April-June quarter, down 10 percent from Rs 36.6 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal. This may be due to higher tax expenses as there were no effective tax paid in Q1FY16.According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, its total income may rise marginally by 4 percent in Q1 at Rs 1085 crore against Rs 1043 crore in year-months. PAT is expected to decline led
Sales volume is seen up 8 percent at 2.27 metric tonnes versus 2.10 metric tonnes due to demand pickup in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana markets and low base effect.
The dollar slipped against the yen and the euro with the dollar-yen slipping below 100 with Fed officials split on hike.
Minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed policymakers were in no rush to raise interest rates.
The July meeting minutes released on Wednesday showed that Fed policymakers were generally upbeat about the US economic outlook and labor market. But they also said they wanted to “leave their policy options open” as any slowdown in hiring would argue against near-term monetary tightening.
Market participants interpreted the minutes as moderately positive for risk-taking appetite, with the Fed remaining divided on the timing of the next rate hike.
European leaders and markets have something in common when it comes to acknowledging financial and economic risk emanating from the continent, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz told CNBC. They have their heads in the sand. Following a brief dip in the wake of Britain’s vote in June to leave the European Union, UK stocks have moved sharply higher, and US equities have struck new all-time highs. But markets are underpricing risks that include growing distrust of pro-EU centrist leaders amid widespread youth unemployment and a euro that has been proven a failure, Stiglitz said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
He criticized European leaders, including European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who appear set on pushing a message that any country that leaves the union will be punished.
Asian stocks rose and the greenback languished near two-month lows. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.4 percent as investors added to positions after a 14 percent rise over the last two months.
US stocks ended slightly higher after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting showed voting members divided over whether to raise interest rates soon.
Crude prices remained steady as investors are worried that Saudi Arabia was cranking output to record highs even as OPEC talked of ways to ease a global glut.
Gold prices rise above USD 1350 an ounce following weakness in US dollar.
