Market closing: Indian shares ended lower for the sixth straight day on Friday in choppy trade, led by losses in IT and pharma stocks. Investors worried about unabated foreign capital outflows amid global central bank efforts to tame runaway inflation

World stocks headed for their worst week since markets' pandemic meltdown in March 2020 as leading central banks doubled down on tighter policy in an effort to tame inflation, setting investors on edge about future economic growth. 

Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries is considering buying out Revlon Inc in the United States, days after the cosmetics giant filed for bankruptcy, Reuters reported citing business channel ET Now.

The report comes as Revlon filed for bankruptcy earlier this week after global supply chain disruptions drove up raw material costs and prompted vendors to demand upfront payments.

Reliance has pushed its way into the fashion and personal care space in recent months as it diversifies away from its mainstay oil business. It has already established a foothold in telecom and retail sectors.

Euro zone inflation rose to a record high 8.1% last month in line with a preliminary estimate, more than four times the European Central Bank's target and underscoring its plans to raise interest rates next month to tame runaway price growth.

Initially driven by post-pandemic supply shortages and soaring energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inflation has now become increasingly broad, affecting everything from food and services to everyday goods.

Price growth across the 19 countries sharing the euro rose to 8.1% in May from 7.4% in April, in line with a preliminary estimate published on May 31, the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat said on Friday.

India is likely to impose a ceiling on sugar exports for a second straight year starting this October, aiming to ensure ample domestic supplies and keep a lid on local prices, industry and government sources said on Friday.

India, the world's biggest sugar producer, could cap exports of the sweetener at 6 million to 7 million tonnes in the 2022/23 October-September season, about one-third less than the total to be shipped out in the current season, industry and government sources said. They asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to media.

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Company's India unit believes that it can defend its long-standing number-two position in the Indian passenger vehicle market, even as competition from homegrown automaker Tata Motors intensifies, "raising the benchmark" for the company.

Tata Motors overtook Hyundai as the country's second-largest selling passenger vehicle maker in India in May, selling 43,341 units compared to 42,293 units sold by Hyundai during the same month. This is the second time in the last six months that Tata Motors has pipped Hyundai to grab the coveted number 2 spot in the Indian car market. (Read here)

European equities diverged in opening deals on Friday, with London falling after the Bank of England lifted interest rates to a 13-year high to tackle surging inflation.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index slid 0.1% to 7,039.88 points, one day after the BoE lifted its key rate by a quarter-point to 1.25% and also warned it could act more "forcefully" to combat persistent inflationary pressures.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX index gained 0.4% to 13,089.35 points and the Paris CAC 40 won 0.2% to 5,895.56.

World equities had tanked Thursday as key central banks hiked interest rates in efforts to tame runaway inflation, actions that raised fears they could spark recessions.

Asian indices fell further on Friday after another hefty drop on Wall Street.

Guided 10-12% revenue growth and 22-22.5% OPM for FY23.

Added 1200 MRs in domestic formulation biz; launching 4 new divisions.

IPCA Lab’s (IPCA) Q4 performance was impacted by weak exports, however API, UK and branded generics issues should normalize from H2FY23, in our view. Domestic business (45% of total sales) remained strong and it will continue to outperform IPM. Strong API capabilities and diversified model have benefited IPCA in the current environment. Our FY23E and FY24E EBIDTA stands reduced by 3% yet PAT cut is higher by 7-10%, as management indicated 25% tax rate vs 22-23% earlier. We recommend ‘Buy’ rating with revised TP of ₹ 1,085 based on 23x FY24E earnings.

Recent government measures to rein in steel prices might delay planned price hikes for automobiles, but will not lead to lower prices, as input cost pressures remain elevated, automakers said.

Over the weekend, the union finance ministry imposed 15% export duty on steel, which constitutes more than 80% of a truck’s raw material and about 75% for cars. With enough steel stocks available in the domestic market, automakers expect to get a better deal from steel manufacturers in the next quarter. (Read here)

Sequoia Capital's India partners, caught out early this year by governance scandals at startup companies in its portfolio, assured investors at an April meeting in London that these "lowlights" were mostly behind it, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

But two months later, Sequoia, a major venture capital player in India, is still grappling with complaints from startups about damaged trust and with a defamation lawsuit by a former general counsel, while the closing of a $2.8 billion fund was delayed due to a governance issue.

Sequoia has acknowledged it faces governance-related challenges in India.

Process of coming out of easy liquidity system takes long time on factors beyond our control, says RBI Governor Das.

Tolerance of high inflation during pandemic was a necessity; we stand by our decision, says RBI Governor. 

If we had adopted tighter policy, it would have been disastrous for economy that contracted 6.6 pc in FY21, says RBI Governor.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted complete relief to Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) in an advertising case against German personal care brand Sebamed.

The court has restrained USV Pvt Ltd, which retails Sebamed in India, from further infringing on the brands owned by HUL and also asked it to take down the advertisements that compare the Indian company's soap brands Lux, Dove and Pears with detergent bar Rin.

Bharat Biotech International Limited on Friday said its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin has proven to be safe, well-tolerated and highly immunogenic in paediatric subjects in phase II/III study. 

A press release from the vaccine maker said the study has been accepted and published in Lancet Infectious diseases, peer reviewed high impact factor journal.

Oil prices edged lower on Friday as demand concerns emerged following interest rate hikes in the week, although new sanctions on Iran capped the downside.

Brent crude futures fell 47 cents, or 0.4%, to $119.34 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell to $117.02 a barrel, down 57 cents, or 0.5%.

If losses hold through the day, Brent crude futures would post their first weekly dip in five weeks, while U.S. crude futures would see their first dip in eight weeks.

The technical chart has been disrupted by the crackdown from the critical support zone, suggesting more room for the fall in the market in the near period. At present, the Nifty is hovering precisely where it was a year back, sweeping all the year’s gain. On technical parameters, the market is a bit in the oversold region, and the zone of 15000-15200 might provide a temporary stay to the bears. For now, the zone of 15600-15700 is considered a daunting task for the bulls.

Going forward, our market is likely to remain volatile in the near term and is expected to mirror the moves from the global peers. Looking at the recent fall, it is advised to avoid undue risk and stay light on positions. Also, one needs to keep a close tab on the geopolitical developments and avoid aggressive bets till the volatility looms over.

Equity indices opened the trade on a muted note on Friday, with the Sensex tanking 400 points in early trade, in line with weak global markets and concerns over unabated foreign capital outflows.

On Thursday, technically, the Nifty finally dismissed the key support of 15650 which it held since March. It was a decisive dismissal, that too on the day of the big event, thus inviting a pattern of further weakness in the medium term. With the Nifty closing below 15400, the current bearish sentiment may see the index slide further to 15100 or 15000 in the near term. 

On the other hand, the previous support of 15650-15730 levels has now become resistance to the market. The strategy should be to short trade if Nifty bounces to given levels and place a stop loss at 15800 or buy Nifty if it drops to 15100-15000 with a stop loss at 14950.

Shares of Airtel, Tata Motors, HDFC, Zomato, Tata Power, LIC, among others, will be in focus today. 

The 164 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) finally sealed a package deal in the wee hours on Friday in Geneva with India leading the course. The negotiations were ground out over six days of talks.

In a first major agreement in nine years, the series of trade deals include pledges on food security, balanced outcome fisheries subsidies, and response to pandemic - all issues important to developing countries. (Read here)

Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange rose 33.50 points to 15,343 on Friday, hinting a flat-to-positive start for Indian benchmarks.

Equity benchmarks reeled for the fifth straight day to finish at over one-year lows on Thursday, in tandem with weak global equities, after the US Federal Reserve hiked rates by 75 basis points to tame surging inflation.

Despite a smart rally in morning trade, the benchmark Sensex failed to hold on to the gains and plummeted 1,045.60 points to settle at 51,495.79 - the lowest in over 12 months. Nifty plunged 331.55 points or 2.1% to close at 15,360.60.

Stocks fell in Asia on Friday amid fears of an economic downturn as monetary policy tightens to fight high inflation.

Japanese shares slid about 2%, but China and Hong Kong managed to buck the regional trend with a steady open. US equity futures stabilised and made modest gains after the S&P 500 closed at its lowest since December 2020.

Treasuries extended a period of marked volatility, lifting the 10-year yield to about 3.27%. The dollar bounced from its worst two-day drop since 2020.

Markets are rounding off a week buffeted by interest-rate increases, including the Federal Reserve’s biggest move since 1994, a shock Swiss National Bank hike that energized the franc and the latest boost in UK borrowing costs.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.5% and Nasdaq 100 futures increased 0.6%. Euro Stoxx 50 futures dipped 0.2%.

Japan’s Topix index was down 2.1%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 2.3%, South Korea’s Kospi retreated 0.9%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.5%, and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.1%.

Overnight, stocks tumbled on Wall Street as worries roared back to the fore that the world’s fragile economy may buckle under higher interest rates.

The S&P 500 fell 3.3% in a widespread rout, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.4% and was briefly down more than 900 points, while the Nasdaq composite sank 4.1%. It was the sixth loss for the S&P 500 in its last seven tries, and all but 3% of the stocks in the index dropped.

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