Weekly Market Snap:
Key Highlights:
Equity markets experienced a decline as selling pressure impacted key index pivotals, snapping a four-week rising trend. Despite this, the broader market showcased resilience, outperforming frontline indices. The Nifty settled below the 19,650 mark, influenced by reduced Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) inflows and the upward movement of US bond yields.
In the week ending on 28 July 2023, the S&P BSE Sensex declined by 524.06 points (0.79%) to reach 66,160.20. Simultaneously, the Nifty 50 index dropped 98.95 points (0.50%) to close at 19,646.05. Contrarily, the BSE Mid-Cap index surged 2.07%, settling at 30,159.82, and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.18%, closing at 34,548.46.
Economy:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised India's GDP growth forecast for 2023-24 to 6.1%, up from 5.9%, owing to impressive growth figures for January-March. The IMF maintained its projection of 6.3% GDP growth for India in 2024-25.
The IMF also revised its outlook for the global economy, forecasting a 3% expansion in 2023, faster than the earlier estimate of 2.8% in April.
In May, the National Coal Index in India fell by 33.8% (YoY) to 157.7 points, signaling ample coal supplies to meet the nation's demands.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined his vision for a third term, aiming to position India as the world's third-largest economy with accelerated growth rates.
Global Markets:
The Bank of Japan is expected to maintain its benchmark policy rate at -0.1%, with investors keeping a close eye on any potential changes to its yield curve control policy.
South Korea's GDP showed steady growth, recording 0.9% YoY in the second quarter of 2023, mirroring the first-quarter figure.
The European Central Bank (ECB) increased the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, reaching 4.25%, as part of its ongoing effort to tackle inflation. ECB President Christine Lagarde expressed openness to future rate decisions.
The US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 5.25%-5.5%, marking the 11th hike in the past 12 policy meetings.
Overall, the markets faced selling pressure and uncertainty due to various global and domestic factors. However, positive economic forecasts and resilience in some market segments offered hope for investors in the coming weeks.
