Sensex down 273 pts; European stocks slide

The key equity indices continued to trade with limited losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 19,550 mark. Media, consumer durables and PSU bank shares advanced while auto, oil & gas and metal shares declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 272.76 points or 0.41% to 65,555.65. The Nifty 50 index lost 94.80 points or 0.48% to 19,543.50.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.07% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.62%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,871 shares rose and 1,813 shares fell. A total of 187 shares were unchanged.

Investor sentiment took a hit after top Federal Reserve officials, including Fed Governor Michelle Bowman, Vice Chair Michael Barr, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, and New York Fed Chief John Williams, have indicated their willingness to support an increase in the federal funds rate if economic data suggests a sluggish approach towards the central bank`s 2% inflation target.

Despite considerable progress, these officials agreed that inflation remains elevated, hinting at the possibility of further rate increases. The current policy rate stands between 5.25% and 5.50%.

They also underscored the need for a restrictive monetary policy over an extended period to achieve their objectives.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers` Index (PMI) registered 57.5 in September, down from 58.6 in August. Although the lowest for five months, the latest reading remained firmly above the no-change mark of 50.0 and its long-run average (53.9), therefore signaling a sharp rate of expansion.

Gainers & Losers:

Titan Company (up 1.88%), Bajaj Finance (up 1.50%), Asian Paints (up 1.33%), Hindustan Unilever (up 1.17%), Larsen & Toubro (up 1.03%) were major Nifty gainers.

ONGC (down 3.57%), Eicher Motors (down 3.05%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.75%), Maruti Suzuki (down 2.10%) and Dr. Reddy`s Laboratories (down 2.05%) were major Nifty losers.

Maruti Suzuki India slipped 2.10%. The company`s total sales in the month of September 2023 grew 2.86% to 181,343 units as compared with 176,306 units sold in the same period last year.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) added 0.76%. The company has recorded a 26% year-on-year jump in cargo volumes in September 2023, reaching 32.8 million metric tons (MMT). This growth was observed across all key ports, with double-digit growth in dry bulk (+32%), containers (+20%) and liquids & gas (+21%) cargo types.

Vedanta advanced 3.87%. The company on Friday announced the creation of independent verticals through demerger of various companies, mainly its metals, power, aluminium, and oil and gas businesses to unlock value. The demerger will result in the formation of six separate companies, and each will be listed.

Coal India (CIL) shed 1.44%. CIL produced about 333 million tonnes (MTs) of coal ending first half of the current financial year posting a strong 11.3% year-on-year growth. Output for the month of September 2023 was 51.4 MTs, a 5.8 MTs jump or a growth of 12.6%.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) declined 0.99%. The auto major announced that its overall auto sales for the month of September 2023 stood at 75,604 vehicles, registering the growth of 17.24% as against 64,486 vehicles sold in September 2022.

Hero MotoCorp fell 1.06%. The two-wheeler major`s total sales increased by 3.17% to 536,499 units in September 2023 from 519,980 units in September 2022. Meanwhile, the automobile maker also announced that it will increase the ex-showroom prices of its select motorcycles and scooters, effective from 3 October 2023.

Tata Motors declined 1.38%. The auto major announced that its domestic sales for September 2023 stood at 82,023 vehicles, registering growth of 2% as compared to 80,633 units sold in September 2022. Tata Motors sales in the domestic & international market decline marginally to 2,43,024 vehicles in Q2 FY24 as compared with 2,43,387 units during Q2 FY23.

Bajaj Auto shed 0.22%. The auto major`s total auto sales fell marginally to 3,92,558 units in September 2023 as against 3,94,747 units sold in September 2022.

TVS Motor Company declined 0.07%. The auto maker said that its total sales jumped 6% in September 2023, with sales of 402,553 units as compared with 379,011 units sold in the month of September 2022.

UltraTech Cement rose 0.42%. The cement major said that it has reported 16% increase in consolidated cement sales volume to 26.69 million tons (MT) in Q2 FY24 as against 23.10 MT in Q2 FY23.

Global Markets:

Markets in Europe declined while Asian stocks traded mixed on Tuesday after Federal Reserve officials cemented the view that U.S. interest rates are likely to remain elevated for some time, while the yen slid to near a one-year low, putting traders on watch for intervention from Japanese authorities. Chinese markets are closed for the week because of the Golden Week Holiday.

US stocks ended on a mixed note on Tuesday. U.S. Federal Reserve officials said that monetary policy will need to stay restrictive for "some time" to bring inflation back down to the Fed`s 2% target.

The World Bank forecasts growth in in the developing East Asia and Pacific region to remain strong at 5% in 2023. However, its expects growth to ease in the second half of 2023 and fall to 4.5% in 2024, according to its regional update published on Sunday.

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