Benchmarks trade with small losses; Dow Futures up 90 pts

The headline equity indices were trading with small losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty marched above the 18,000 mark after hitting the day's low of 17,771.15 in the early trade. Domestic shares opened with steep losses today amid dismal global cues. The selloff followed a hotter-than-expected inflation report in the US, solidifying the chances of aggressive rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 61.88 points or 0.1% to 60,509.20. The Nifty 50 index declined 19.10 points or 0.11% to 18,050.95.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.02% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.07%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,696 shares rose and 1,686 shares fell. A total of 160 shares were unchanged.

Indusind Bank (up 4.96%), NTPC (up 2.21%), Bajaj Finance (up 1.63%) and Power Grid Corporation of India (up 1.59%) were major Nifty gainers.

State Bank of India was up 2.62% at Rs 572.90. The counter crossed the market capitalisation of Rs 5 lakh crore.

Infosys (down 4.18%), TCS (down 3.12%), Tech Mahindra (down 2.81%), HCL Technologies (down 2.24%) and SBI Life Insurance (down 1.61%) were major Nifty losers.

Economy:

India's inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) stood at 12.41% in August 2022 compared with 11.64% in August 2021. The WPI grew 13.93% in July 2022, while the figure for June was 16.23%.

"Inflation in August, 2022 is primarily contributed by rise in prices of mineral oils, food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, basic metals, chemicals & chemical products, electricity, food products etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year," the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a statement today.

Global Cues:

The US Dow Jones index futures were up 90 points, indicating a positive opening in the US stocks today.

Shares in Europe and Asia declined on Wednesday as a white-hot US inflation report dashed hopes for a peak in inflation and fuelled bets that interest rates may have to be raised higher and for longer.

US stocks fell sharply on Tuesday following the US inflation report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1,276.37 points, or 3.94%, to close at 31,104.97. The S&P 500 dropped 4.32% to 3,932.69, and the Nasdaq Composite sank 5.16% to end the day at 11,633.57.

The US consumer price index edged up 0.1% last month after being unchanged in July. In the 12 months through August, the CPI increased 8.3%. That was a deceleration from July's 8.5% rise and a 9.1% jump in June.

Meanwhile, the shareholders of social media giant Twitter on 13 September 2022 approved the $44 billion acquisition deal which was inked by the company with billionaire tycoon Elon Musk. The nod from shareholders comes ahead of the trial next month over whether the $44 billion deal should be completed. The courtroom battle is scheduled to begin on 17 October 2022.

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