Stocks, forex, and commodity markets shut today on account of Eid-ul-Fitr

The equity, forex, money and commodity markets will remain closed on Wednesday on account of Eid-ul-Fitr. Trading will resume on Thursday, June 6. 

On Tuesday, the domestic equity market settled in the red as investors booked profit. The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 40,084, down 184 points or 0.46 per cent with Hero MotoCorp, HCL Tech, TCS, Asian Paints, and IndusInd Bank leading the list of losers. Out of the 30 BSE constituents, 16 ended the day with losses.

The broader Nifty50 index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) slipped 67 points or 0.55 per cent to close at 12,022. The market breadth was in favour of sellers as out of 1,946 scrips traded on NSE, 1,060 stocks declined while 777 shares advanced and 109 remained unchanged. 

"Intensified trade tensions and prediction of further delay of the onset of monsoon pushed investors to book profit. However, the expectation of a further cut in interest rate by RBI, falling oil prices and higher spending will improve earnings outlook. The sentiment remains buoyant despite premium valuation since FIIs are pumping liquidity to India as a chosen long-term equity in the emerging market in this ongoing uncertainty in the global market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. 

In the forex market, the Indian rupee Tuesday settled unchanged at 69.26 against the US dollar in a lacklustre trade ahead of the RBI monetary policy outcome on Thursday. The central bank is widely expected to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points amid dismal GDP data, consumption slowdown and liquidity crisis.

Two-thirds of 66 economists polled by Reuters expect the MPC to wrap up on Thursday by cutting the repo rate by 25 basis points, but that survey was taken even before India released far worse than expected economic growth numbers, so expectations for a cut have probably hardened.

If they are right, and the RBI does lower the repo rate to 5.75 per cent it will be the third meeting in a row since February that India has cut interest rates. The last time it moved this quickly to lower rates was in 2013 to revive the moribund economy from growth rates that had slipped to a decade low. CLICK TO FULL REPORT