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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Rupee hits all-time low for second time in a week
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.
Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.
The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.
On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.
Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.
The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
