Latest Stock Market News

The equity benchmarks experienced notable declines, breaking a five-day upward trend amidst a global sell-off. Key stocks included Zomato, which gained significantly, ITC, which saw slight losses, and Adani Wilmar, which increased. Analysts highlighted bullish trends in Zomato and Adani Wilmar, while ITC may see a pivotal move if it surpasses 500 levels.

Bitcoin and Ether fell to multi-month lows as concerns about a potential U.S. recession spurred investors to seek safer assets. After an initial boost from the approval of an exchange-traded fund, fears of a broader economic downturn and geopolitical issues led to a significant selloff. Bitcoin dropped nearly 20% from its March 2024 high.

The Korea Exchange activated sidecar trading curbs on the KOSPI market, halting program trading for five minutes on Monday, as the benchmark KOSPI fell 5% by 11:11 a.m. local time, following a 3.7% drop on Friday, marking its worst session since March 2020.

The Topix and Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell about 5%, with the former set for a three-day decline that would be the worst since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown and put them near bear markets. A circuit breaker halted trading of Topix futures for about 10 minutes.

At least 11 firms, including Indus Towers Ltd., have or are set to approve share buybacks shortly after the new regime was proposed in the budget on July 23. This is a jump from the average of about four transactions per month in 2023, data from primeinfobase.com show.

For Nifty 50, watch key support at 24,600 and 24,350 with resistance around 25,100-25,250. For Bank Nifty, important support levels are 51,000 and 50,500, while resistance is around 51,800 and 52,200. These levels are crucial for determining potential market direction.

Banks experienced growing stress in unsecured retail, micro finance, and rural loans in the first quarter, influenced by heatwaves, election slowdowns, and higher risk weights. Despite a 21% increase in net profit, margins and deposit growth continued to lag credit demand. Major slippages were seen in State Bank of India and IDFC First Bank. Analysts consider these challenges temporary but warn of declining margins and high deposit rate requirements to attract savings.

Private banks targeted new-to-bank customers for credit on UPI with fixed deposits as collateral. With the upcoming launch of credit-line-on-UPI by NPCI, banks aimed to cost-efficiently provide small-ticket loans to customers lacking credit history. Collaborations with NBFCs or fintechs were also explored to enhance product distribution.

The yen carry trade gained focus as the yen appreciated sharply after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates and reduced bond purchases. This caused investors to unwind their positions to avoid losses, leading to a selloff in US tech stocks and affecting global markets, including Asia.