Rupee continues slide for 5th day, falls 47 paise against dollar

The Indian rupee continued to slide against the US dollar for the fifth day in a row, closing down at a fresh two-month low,  amid bearish local equities and demand for the US currency from importers.

A firm dollar overseas also weighed on the rupee as the dollar index, consisting of six major global rivals, was up by 0.28 per cent.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market, the domestic currency resumed lower at 63.35 and moved in a range of 63.30 to 63.84 against the dollar before settling at 63.71, a fall of 47 paise or 0.74 per cent.

The rupee has plunged 209 paise, or 3.39 per cent, in five straight sessions. It is at the lowest level since closing at 63.84 on September 10.

"Rupee was seen depreciating against the US dollar due to persistent dollar strength, rising dollar demand from the domestic oil companies and debt market outflows. Also, the stock markets which ended the session on a negative note contributed to the weakness in the local currency," said Abhishek Goenka, CEO of India Forex Advisors.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 209.05 points, or 1.02 per cent, to a one-month low, completing six days of losses. Overseas investors pumped in Rs 333.50 crore in stocks on Monday.

Rupee falls further on strong dollar demand

 
Continuing its slide for the sixth straight day, the rupee on Wednesday lost 17 paise to trade at a fresh two-month low of 63.88 in early trade on strong dollar demand from importers amid weak local equities.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local currency opened lower at 63.88 a dollar from its previous close of 63.71.

Forex dealers said besides sustained demand for the US currency from importers and a lower opening in the domestic equity market also put pressure on the rupee but dollar's weakness against euro in the global markets capped the fall.

The rupee had depreciated by 47 paise to close at 63.71 against the dollar in the previous session. Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex fell by 53.97 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 20,227.94 in early trade on Wednesday.

Indian rupee drops 83 paise against US dollar, breaches 63-mark

he Indian rupee dropped by 83 paise to 63.30 against the US dollar after a gap of nearly eight weeks on persistent dollar demand from importers and banks on the back of higher dollar overseas.

The domestic currency resumed lower at 63.00 per dollar as against the last weekend's level of of 62.47 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and dropped further to 63.32 per dollar before quoting at 63.30 per dollar at 10.40 am. It moved in a range of 62.94 per dollar and 63.32 per dollar during the morning deals.

Sustained dollar demand from importers and banks in view of firm dollar overseas mainly affected the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said.

In New York, the American currency jumped last Friday after the US created twice as many jobs in October as Wall Street had expected, sparking yet another round of discussion about when the Federal Reserve could slow its bond buys.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex dropped further by 129 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 20,537.37 at 10.50 am.

Deutsche Bank sees Sensex at a record 22,000 by Dec end

 
A day after the market benchmark sniffed at life-time high, German brokerage Deutsche Bank on Friday raised its year-end Sensex target to a record high of 22,000 points, saying investor pessimism earlier this year is receding amid positive developments like the good monsoons.

"We are raising our December Sensex target from 21,000 to 22,000 premised on our expectation that the pace of negative news flow over the country and excessive investor pessimism may be receding," Deutsche Bank said.

The Sensex hit an all-time high of 21,206.77 on January 1, 2008, while during intra-day on Thursday, it had scaled 21,039.42. While on January 1, 2008, the Sensex was trading at 28.12 times its PE, on Wednesday it was 18.89 times.

The bank said currency stability, lowering gold imports, rising exports and taper postponement have imparted considerable legitimacy to the government's commitment to contain CAD - the main pain-point for the economy.

In addition, the best monsoon in 15 years is expected to lay the foundation for an accelerated recovery in the rural economy which accounts for 56 per cent of total income and 64 per cent of total expenditure.

While stating it is not expecting any imminent turn in private sector investment momentum and remains cautious over near term monetary policy action, the brokerage has based its optimism on macroeconomy, likely withdrawal of extraordinary liquidity tightening measures by RBI, a synchronised global growth recovery and a US Fed that is expected to stay 'looser for longer'.

"At our target the Sensex will trade at a PE multiple of 15 times, in line with its past five trading average," the brokerage said.

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell 0.2 per cent, or 42.45 points, to end at 20,725.43 on Thursday.

On its preferred stocks/sectors, it replaced IT services which it holds as 'neutral' with banks as the biggest portfolio overweight followed by metals, citing receding concerns over tight liquidity and higher short-end interest rates.

"Our top picks include Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bharat Forge, Coal India, Godrej Consumer, ITC, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti, RIL, Tata Steel and Zee.

"We have raised banks as the top overweight in our model portfolio as we believe that excessive concerns over tight liquidity and elevated short-end rates are behind us, and fears of sharp margin compression and treasury losses have waned," it said.

However, it said the three key themes investors will be playing out will be currency stabilisation, rural demand recovery and global growth.

Stating that the overall scene is not as bad as it appeared earlier, it said following fears over the Fed taper in May and the sharp currency depreciation, investors had feared a vicious economic cycle for the country and a protracted return to normalcy.

It also noted that contrary to prevailing pessimism during the currency crisis, the Q2 earnings so far have been above street expectations, assuaging investor concerns over an accelerated earnings downgrade cycle.

BSE Sensex trades flat during pre-noon trade

The BSE benchmark index was trading flat and was down over 30 points in Tuesday's trade on selling pressure. At 12.17 pm, Sensex was down 32.51 points at 20861.38. Similarly, Nifty was down 9.35 points at 6195.60 during the same time.

Good buying was observed in IT, metal and public sector undertakings (PSU) sectors; while selling pressure was seen in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,863.15 points, was trading at 20,893.70 points in the early morning session, down 0.19 points or 0.00 percent from previous day's close at 20,893.89 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,948.91 points and a low of 20,849.78 points during trade so far.

The S&P BSE IT index gained 20,849.78 points, metal index inched up by 46.92 points and PSU index moved up by 39.65 points; however, FMCG index dipped by 12.80 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also trading down by 0.30 points or 0.00 percent at 6,204.65 points.

Sensex may touch 21,000 level by Diwali: Experts

New Delhi: The BSE benchmark Sensex is likely to hit the much awaited psychological level of 21,000 this Diwali, driven by robust foreign fund inflow, good quarterly earnings from corporates so far and favourable global cues, say analysts.

The Sensex touched its one-year high level of 20,932.23 on Friday triggered by global cues as concerns about the US tapering eased and China's economic growth picked up.

The 30-stock index is 323.88 points away from its all- time peak of 21,206.77 hit on January 10, 2008.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs), the main driver of the Indian stock market, have poured in nearly Rs 7,000 crore (USD 1.12 billion) in the domestic equity market since the beginning of this month.

With this, the total foreign investment in the Indian stock market has reached Rs 80,174 crore (USD 14.77 billion) so far in 2013, as per data available with market regulator Sebi.

Marketmen attributed the foreign fund inflows to easing concerns over the US tapering.

"Markets rose sharply on Friday, buoyed by the postponement of the debt ceiling issue and on likely expectations that the Fed will not taper the stimulus programme in its next meeting, pending final resolution of the debt ceiling programme," said Dipen Shah, Head of Private Client Group Research at Kotak Securities.

The Sensex has gained 1,365.74 points or 6.99 percent so far this month to 20,882.89.

According to analysts, the way things are looking positive for the country and the liquidity force will take markets to higher levels.

"The Sensex is likely to remain strong in near-term. The kind of inflows and liquidity that we are seeing indicates that the Sensex may scale new highs in the days to come. The Sensex is likely to touch its all-time high by Diwali as the global set-up is good, results by Indian Inc is reasonably decent and most importantly FII inflows are robust," said Paras Bothra, Research Head at Ashika Stock Brokers.

The sentiment in the market last week was boosted on speculation that Federal Reserve could maintain monetary stimulus next year on concerns that the 16-day partial US government shutdown may curb growth in the world's largest economy.

"Markets may move up further as indications from the US markets are positive, corporate results are good. Besides, FIIs are positive on the Indian stock market. So, it is likely that markets may touch their record high levels by Diwali," said Alex Matthews, Geojit BNP, Research Head.

BSE Sensex fails to maintain initial gains, turns negative

New Delhi: The S&P BSE benchmark Sensex failed to maintain initial gains and was quoted lower in afternoon trade Monday on selling pressure mainly in consumer durables and IT counters.

The 30-share index opened higher at 20,915.76 and moved up to 20,970.92 on buying in capital goods, auto and realty shares on the back persistent capital inflows from foreign funds coupled with higher global cues.

However, it later dropped to 20,787.56 and was quoted at 20,810, showing a loss of 72.74 points, from its last weekend's level.

Similarly, the 50-share NSE benchmark Nifty moved lower by 7.70 points, to 6,182.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1752.98 crore on last Friday, according to provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Asian markets rose as traders continued buying spree that began last week on bets that US Federal Reserve will continue its monetary stimulus for the world's largest economy.

Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia and Japan rose between 0.1 percent and 1.13 percent, while indices in South Korea and Taiwan fell between 0.12 percent and 0.21 percent.

BSE Sensex up in morning trade on sustained buying, Jet Airways shares gain

 
The BSE benchmark Sensex continued its rising sreak and was trading over 100 points in morning trade on Friday on sustained buying by funds as well as retail investors, ignoring a weak trend on the other Asian boures.

At 10.38 am, Sensex was up 93.11 points at 19995.18. Similarly, Nifty was up 33.95 points at 5943.65 during the same time.

The 30-share index gained 60.89 points, or 0.31 per cent, to trade at 19,962.96 points in early trade with auto, consumer durables, IT and realty sector stocks leading the rise. It had rallied over 522 points in the past two sessions.

On the similar lines, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty moved up 12.00 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 5,921.70.

Brokers said sustained buying by funds as well as retail investors took place as the partial US government shutdown eased fears about the Federal Reserve tapering its monetary stimulus programme soon.

Stocks of Jet Airways turned buyers' fancy and shot up by 3.60 per cent to Rs 400.50 after the Union Cabinet on Thursday night cleared its proposed sale of 24 per cent equity to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad.

In the Asian region, the Japan's Nikkei fell 0.90 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.72 per cent in early trade.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.90 per cent lower in Thursday's trade.

Sensex loses 3.75% in action-packed month

 

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex lost 3.75 percent in August, its worst monthly performance since February, as worries over foreign outflows were exacerbated by the rupee that fell to record lows during the month.

India’s current account deficit and a struggling economy still worry market participants. Data showed on Aug. 31 that June quarter GDP grew at 4.4 percent, below analysts’ estimates.

The rupee recovered in the last few trading sessions of August, closing around 65.75 per dollar after falling to a life low below 68. Still, the unit lost 8.1 percent in August, its biggest monthly fall since at least 1995.

Overall, the Sensex lost 726 points during the month to close at 18,620, but hit a month-low of 17,448.71 in trade on Aug. 28. Fears that the United States would soon start rolling back its monetary stimulus also dampened investor confidence as it raised fears of foreign investors selling Indian shares.