Equity benchmark indices settled on a flat note in a volatile session on August 23 as the market sentiment was cautious ahead of the US Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium. The BSE Sensex gained 33.02 points or 0.04 per cent to close at 81,086.21. The NSE Nifty was up 11.70 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at 24,823.20.
Except for Auto, all sectors ended in red. The auto sector was in momentum and gained 1 per cent after the government approved 50 of the 74 applications it received from automakers for its productivity-linked incentive (PLI) scheme aimed at supporting domestic manufacturing.
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The US markets ended sharply higher on Friday, after Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.
“The recent comments from the US Federal Reserve chairman regarding interest rates were not surprising. The market has been expecting an interest rate cut during the next Federal Reserve meeting in September. The big question is how quickly the rates will be reduced. There are indications that the rate cuts could happen at a faster pace, especially with the weakening of jobs data,” said Naveen Kulkarni, Chief Investment Officer at Axis Securities PMS.
“However, Mr. Powell believes that the chances of the US economy entering a recession in the near term are very low. This implies that rate cuts would likely align with consensus expectations, and the possibility of higher rate cuts may be lower. Overall, the regime of high interest rates is coming to a close, but the likelihood of returning to an ultra-low interest rate environment also appears to be low at the moment,” Kulkarni added.
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Here are the key stocks to watch on August 26:
Adani Power: Adani Group’s power generating unit has unpaid dues of around $800 million from Bangladesh, where weeks of violent protests left hundreds dead and forced out the previous administration this month. Bangladesh owes this amount to Adani Power Ltd for electricity supplied by its coal-fired plant in the Godda district of Jharkhand, Bangladesh Bank’s newly-appointed Governor Ahsan H Mansur told Bloomberg News in an interview.
Ambuja Cement: GQG Partners has increased its stake in the company to 2.5 per cent after acquiring an additional 1.1 per cent through block deals valued at Rs 1,679 crore. The shares were purchased at a price of Rs 625.5 per share.
Hero Motors: Hero Motors, the flagship company of the Hero Motor Company Group, has filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for a Rs 900 crore IPO. The IPO consists of a fresh issue of up to Rs 500 crore while the remaining Rs 400 crore is in an offer for sale (OFS) by promoters OP Munjal Holdings, Bhagyoday Investments and Hero Cycles.
Trent, Bharat Electronics: The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has announced a significant reshuffling of its Nifty equity indices. PSU Defence stock Bharat Electronics and Tata Group’s Trent will be included in the prestigious Nifty 50 index with effect from September 30, 2024. As part of this reorganisation, Divi’s Laboratories and LTIMindtree will be excluded from the index.
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