Weak rupee, global cues depress equity indices; rupee ends below 69 per dollar
Mumbai, July 19: Depreciation in the Indian rupee and domestic political uncertainty subdued the key Indian equity indices on Thursday.
In a major development, the rupee breached the 69 per dollar mark during the day, eroding investor sentiments in the equity market.
According to market analysts, decline in the major global markets also weighed on the Indian indices.
Index-wise, the wider Nifty 50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 10,957.10 points, lower by 23.35 points and 0.21 per cent from the previous close of 10,980.45 points.
The barometer 30-scrip BSE Sensex, which had opened at 36,509.08 points, closed at 36,351.23 points -- lower by 22.21 points or 0.06 per cent -- from its previous session's close of 36,373.44 points.
It touched an intra-day high of 36,515.58 points and a low of 36,279.33 points. The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,802 declines against 791 advances.
"Market was range bound with a negative bias due to weakening rupee on account of surge in dollar index and ongoing trade spat," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
The rupee ended at 69.05 per dollar, weakening by 42 paise, from the previous close of 68.63 per greenback.
Nair further said that global cues are not clearly supporting domestic market direction and trade tensions between the US and other major economies are keeping investors on edge.
HDFC Securities' Head of Retail Research at Deepak Jasani said investors seemed to be "cautious ahead of a parliament debate on Friday, July 20, 2018 about a no-confidence motion" against the current NDA government.
Investment-wise, provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrip worth just Rs 315.69 crore and the domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 470.02 crore.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE consumer durables index gained the most, by 194 points, followed by the FMCG index, up 58.32 points and the energy rose by 27.30 points.
On the contrary, the S&P BSE capital goods index declined by 316.94 points, the healthcare index was down 170.96 points and the banking index fell by 115.35 points.
The major gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel, up 2.45 per cent at Rs 345.05; Vedanta, up 2.21 per cent at Rs 208.30; Yes Bank, up 1.93 per cent at Rs 391.20; ITC, up 1.71 per cent at Rs 272.90; and Adani Ports, up 1.39 per cent at Rs 369.15 per share.
The top losers were Kotak Mahindra Bank, down 3.69 per cent at Rs 1,350.25; Larsen and Toubro, down 2.61 per cent at Rs 1,255.55; Hero MotoCorp, down 1.22 per cent at Rs 3,458.90; Tata Steel, down 0.98 per cent at Rs 499.75; and Coal India, down 0.95 per cent at Rs 261.50 per share.
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NDA leaders including Amit Shah, Chandrababu Naidu meet at BJP chief's residence
New Delhi, Dec 25: Leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including Home Minister Amit Shah and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, met here at BJP president J P Nadda's residence on Wednesday on the birth centenary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Sources said NDA leaders discussed the Congress' recent political attack on the ruling alliance and emphasised to speak in a united voice to counter "fake narrative".
The Congress has attacked Shah alleging insult of B R Ambedkar, with the home minister accusing the opposition party of using a short clip of his speech to distort his remarks.
Shah and Nadda said the ruling alliance's focus should remain on good governance and people's welfare, which have brought it support from the masses, they added.
Besides Shah and Naidu, JD(U) leader and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Apna Dal (S) president and Union minister Anupriya Patel, as well as JD (S) leader and Union minister H D Kumaraswamy, were present at the meeting. With the NDA putting in a broad mechanism to boost coordination, it was noted that its members will continue to consult over key issues, with ministers and other senior leaders meeting the MPs regularly.
Bihar’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (S) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, also a minister in the Modi government, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) president Upendra Kushwaha, a Rajya Sabha MP, and Thushar Vellappally, president of Bharath Dharma Jana Sena, were also present at the meeting.
Though there was no official word on the agenda of the meeting, sources said good governance and political issues were discussed.
Good governance was a key theme of the Vajpayee government.
It was decided to hold a meeting of the alliance on the birth anniversary of the BJP stalwart, who is credited with successfully running the first coalition government for its full term.
"Attended the NDA leaders' meeting in New Delhi today. Under the visionary leadership of PM Narendra Modi, India is achieving unprecedented milestones and has positioned itself as a global superpower," Nadda said in a post on X after the meeting.
"The NDA government remains steadfast in its pursuit of the vision of 'Viksit Bharat@2047', ensuring a brighter and more prosperous future for all," he added.
Uttar Pradesh's NISHAD Party chief Sanjay Nishad said it was an “informal" meeting of the NDA leaders on the occasion of the birth centenary of Vajpayee.
“Our future strategy is to move forward together. We have to show unity in all the upcoming elections...everyone congratulated (the BJP leaders) in the meeting for the victory in Haryana and Maharashtra assembly polls,” he told reporters when asked about the meeting.
Nishad said the meeting also discussed coalition strategy to ensure that “all the work” done by Prime Minister Modi reaches the ground and “promises made to people during elections” are fulfilled.
The issue of giving reservation to the fishing community was also raised at the meeting, he said.
“I gave 30-37 page evidence on the issue of giving reservation to the fishing community since it was a poll promise. They will call (us) after a week and discuss it,” Nishad said.
Asked if issue of Shah's remarks on Ambedkar came up at the meeting, the NISHAD Party chief said, "...We have come for people's welfare. How to get success in that, energy needs to be spent on that."
"There is no need to respond to their narrative and negative thoughts," he added in an apparent reference to the Congress and other opposition parties who are up in arms against Shah over his remarks.
The NDA meeting comes amid the alliance's focus on simultaneous elections, with all constituents lending support to the proposal.
A Joint Committee of Parliament, constituted to scrutinise two bills for simultaneous polls, is expected to meet on January 8.
Attended the NDA leaders' meeting in New Delhi today. Under the visionary leadership of Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji, India is achieving unprecedented milestones and has positioned itself as a global superpower. The NDA government remains steadfast in its pursuit of the… pic.twitter.com/G4IxjRRMlx
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) December 25, 2024
