Benchmarks to get negative start amid weak global cues

Indian markets closed with losses on Thursday after three straight days of gains. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries shed and accounted for bulk of the losses in both the indices. Today, start of the session is likely to be negative as global markets maintain caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium. Traders will be concerned as according to RBI minutes, Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Jayanth R Varma said the inflation readings for the next couple of months are likely to remain well above the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) tolerance band of 2-6 per cent. However, foreign fund inflows likely to aid sentiments. According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth net Rs 1,524.87 crore on August 24. Traders may be taking encouragement as Finance secretary T V Somanathan said India will continue to clock the highest growth rate among the top five economies in the world in the foreseeable future and asked Indian diaspora to act as a catalyst and supplement government efforts in making India the biggest opportunity. Some support may come as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the ongoing negotiations between India and the UK on a free trade agreement (FTA) are progressing extremely well and it is expected to conclude at an early date. Traders may take note of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the government is aiming to make India a global hub for production, utilisation and export of green hydrogen. Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has exuded confidence that the G20 ministers of trade and investment would be able to reach a broad consensus on all trade-related issues at the two-day meeting here. There will be some buzz in telecom stocks as Trai said telecom subscriber base in the country grew marginally to 1,173.89 million at the end of June on account of new customer additions led by Reliance Jio.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday failing to sustain early gains after Nvidia beat earnings views and raised its guidance. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Friday tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks failed to hold the strong momentum witnessed in early trade and finally ended the trading session in red on Thursday amid selling in Healthcare, Energy and Financial Services stocks. Markets made a gap-up opening and extended the gains in the initial hours of trading, on positive global cues. Sentiments got boost with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that vegetable rates may ease from September, led by tomato prices, which have started showing signs of correction on the back of increased supply. Some support also came with commerce minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that India is hopeful that trade and investment ministers from the world’s 20 biggest economies set to meet in Jaipur will be able to strike a consensus on key areas of trade and investment, although differences persist over the Ukraine war. Some optimism also came as the provisional data available on the NSE showed that foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth net Rs 614.32 crore on August 23. However, key gauges reversed all of their intraday gains in late afternoon deals and ended lower amid weekly expiry of the derivative contracts as selling pressure in heavyweights weighed on investor sentiments. Traders also awaited US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's speech, due on Friday, for cues on inflation. Traders paid no heed towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that India is seen as a combination of openness, opportunities and options as the world sees optimism and confidence in the Indian economy. The prime minister said that during the last nine years, India has become the fifth largest global economy and it has increased its competitiveness and enhanced transparency. Traders also overlooked Union Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh’s statement that Indian embassies and consulates are well-placed to help the country's businesses explore new markets for exports. He said India's growth and prosperity are intrinsically linked to its ability to tap into global markets and focusing on the incredible products and services that it has to offer. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 180.96 points or 0.28% to 65,252.34 and the CNX Nifty was down by 57.30 points or 0.29% to 19,386.70.