Sensex retreats from record highs, back below 74,000
- India’s Sensex corrects from record highs on Thursday, tracking weak global cues.
- Sensex hit fresh record highs above 74,000 on Wednesday, helped by banking stocks.
- US Nonfarm Payrolls and Fed Chair Powell testimony eyed after poor US ADP and JOLTs data.
The Sensex 30, one of India’s key benchmark indices, is trading in the red on Thursday, correcting from record highs reached on Wednesday.
The Indian index is following weak Asian stock markets, as global sentiment remains sour ahead of Friday’s US Nonfarm Payrolls data.
On Wednesday, the Indian index witnessed an impressive turnaround after struggling on the back of weak market sentiment, courtesy of the poor Services PMI releases from India, China and the US. A rebound in the Indian banking sector stocks saved the day for Sensex traders, as the index clinched fresh record highs.
At the time of writing, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex 30 is trading 0.15% lower on the day at 73,974.05, easing from the all-time high at 74,151.27.
Stock market news
- Among the top gainers on Sensex are JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Bajaj FinServ, TCS and Tata Motors. Meanwhile, the main laggards in early trades are Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki and Reliance Industries.
- Tata Power announced that it became an Indian Integrated Power entity with validated science-based targets.
- Larsen and Toubro Ltd’s (L&T) hydrocarbon vertical secured an offshore order from ONGC for a project.
- The US stock markets stayed afloat on Wednesday, following US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. Powell said that interest rate cuts are still likely in the coming months if inflation continues to ease.
- Meanwhile, the US private sector added 140,000 jobs in February, an increase from the upwardly revised 111,000 in January but a bit below the expected 150,000 additions, ADP reported on Wednesday.
- The number of job openings on the last business day of January stood at 8.86 million, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) on Wednesday. The data followed 8.88 million (revised from 9.02 million) openings in December and came in slightly below the market forecast of 8.9 million.
- Markets are currently pricing in about a 70% chance that the Fed could begin easing rates in June, slightly higher than a 63% probability seen a day ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
- It’s a holiday-shortened week for the Indian markets, as they will be closed, in observance of the Mahashivratri festival on Friday.
- The main event risks for markets this week will be the US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony and the all-important US Nonfarm Payrolls data. Powell will appear before the Senate Banking Committee later in the day.
- The focus continues to remain on the week-long China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) meeting which could flag new stimulus measures.