Sensex Gains 200 Points; Rupee Hits Fresh Record Low

Thu, 16 Apr 12:30 pm

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Share markets in India are presently trading on a positive note. Benchmark indices erased losses made earlier in the day, amid heavy buying in realty and metal stocks.

Indian share markets slipped in opening trade today, tracking global markets as rising coronavirus cases and grim growth projections dampened investor sentiment.

Selling pressure was also seen as the International Monetary Fund said, growth in Asia will grind to zero for the first time in 60 years in 2020, as exporters are pounded by slumping demand and anti-virus measures force consumers to stay home and shops to shut down.

Barring telecom stocks and IT stocks, all sectoral indices are trading in green with stocks in the metal sector and realty sector witnessing most of the buying interest.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 152 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 44 points.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.7%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.9%.

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Moving on, gold prices are currently trading up by 0.4% at Rs 46,911.

The rupee is currently trading at 76.76 against the US$.

The domestic currency fell 36 paise to an all-time low of 76.80 against the US dollar in opening trade today, tracking weak domestic equities and sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the country.

Reportedly, the weakness in rupee was largely due to strengthening of the US dollar as investors fled to safe haven greenback amid weakening risk appetite in the markets.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 76.75 and then fell further to hit an all-time low of 76.80.

The rupee had settled at 76.44 against the US dollar on Wednesday.

Other Asian currencies are also weaker against the US dollar today. The US dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against six other major currencies, was up about 0.5% to 99.98.

The dollar has strengthened despite data released yesterday showed US retail sales fell 8.7% in March, the biggest decline since tracking began in 1992.

Separately, a report from the Federal Reserve showed manufacturing output plummeted 6.3% last month, the biggest decrease since February 1946.

Speaking of currencies, as the Coronavirus pandemic continues to haunt the global financial markets, the rupee has been hit badly.

Have a look at the chart below:

YTD Performance of the USD/INR

On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, the rupee has depreciated sharply against the US dollar. While it started the calendar year 2020 at 71.28 against the US dollar, it is currently trading around 76-levels. This translates to a depreciation of more than 7% for the domestic currency.

In a recent article titled The Sharp Fall in Indian Rupee: 6 Points to Know, we dive deeper and look at the factors behind rupee's depreciation.

Moving on to news from the banking sector, IndusInd Bank share price is in focus today.

Shares of the private lender are trading higher for the third straight day, after Goldman Sachs Singapore Pte picked up shares worth over Rs 1.8 billion through an open market transaction.

According to the bulk deal data on the NSE, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte-ODI bought 4.1 million shares, representing 0.65% stake of IndusInd Bank, at an average price of Rs 430 per share on Wednesday.

Earlier this month on April 7, Singapore-based investment banking firm UBS Principal Capital Asia had bought 5.38 million shares, or 0.85% stake, in the private lender. UBS acquired the bank's shares at Rs 367 per share.

Note that, shares of the private lender have seen a sharp rally in its stock price, in the past one month. IndusInd Bank's shares have rallied 87% from its 52-week low level of Rs 235.55, touched on March 20, 2020.

In other news, HDFC Bank has identified three contenders to succeed CEO Aditya Puri.

As per an article in The Economic Times the three contenders include Sashidhar Jagdishan and Kaizad Bharucha, both executive directors of the bank, and Sunil Garg, global CEO of Citi Commercial Bank.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

• The nomination and recruitment committee (NRC) of the board has already shortlisted these three names with the help of global executive search firm Egon Zehnder and this will be placed before the board this week. The plan is to send the recommendations to the RBI before April end.

The bank constituted a six-member search committee last year to find a replacement. Aditya Puri, who has more than 40 years of experience in the banking sector, is an advisor to the search committee.

The lender's board had recently cleared Jagdishan and Bharucha as executive directors. However, earlier this month, the RBI directed HDFC Bank to keep the appointments in abeyance, saying that the choice of candidates should be left to the incoming chief executive.

HDFC Bank share price is presently trading up by 0.6%.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

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