Gap-down opening seen for Sensex, Nifty; Suzlon Energy, Bata, Zydus Lifesciences shares eyed

Indian benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty are poised to start the week on a bearish note, tracking weak cues from global peers. Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly lower following a negative finish on Wall Street on Friday amid growing concerns about the aggressive rate hike and a potential recession in major economies. The weak trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-down opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 156 points, 0.92%, lower at 16,931 levels on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:10 AM. This holiday-shortened week is going to be action-packed as monthly manufacturing and services PMI data will be released for India as well as other major economies. The auto companies will be also in focus as they released their monthly sales figures during the weekend.

Last week, the Indian equity benchmarks ended in negative terrain amid persistent concerns about inflation, higher interest rates, and a potential global recession. The BSE benchmark Sensex tanked 672 points, 1.15%, last week, with the combined market valuation of seven of the 10 most valued firms falling by ₹1.16 lakh crore, while Reliance Industries took the biggest hit. The valuation of the oil-to-telecom conglomerate fell by ₹41,706 crore to ₹16,08,601 crore. Among others, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, and HDFC were the notable losers from the top-10 pack, while TCS, Hindustan Unilever, and Infosys emerged as the gainers. On Friday, the BSE Sensex ended 1,016 points, or 1.80%, higher at 57,427, and the Nifty50 index climbed 276 points, or 1.64%, to 17,094, despite rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India. The central bank hiked the key repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) at 5.9% and it retained the inflation forecast for FY23 at 6.7% amid upside risks to food prices. 

Stocks to watch

Suzlon Energy: Tulsi R.Tanti, founder, chairman & managing director, and one of the promoters of Suzlon Energy suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away on October 1. Last week, the company announced to raise ₹1,200 crore through a rights issue to the eligible equity shareholders of the company.

Auto stocks: Shares of the automobile companies will be in focus as most of them released their monthly sales numbers during the weekend. Some companies are also expected to unveil their September sales today.  

Bata India: Vidhya Srinivasan has resigned as Director – Finance and Chief Financial Officer of the company, effective from November 12, 2022. Shaibal Sinha, the non-executive non-independent director, has been assigned the additional responsibility to oversee the finance & accounts functions of the company for the interim period.

Zydus Lifesciences: The drug maker has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration to market Sildenafil, the high blood pressure drug (pulmonary hypertension).

Indiabulls Housing Finance: The company has raised its lending rates by 50 bps effective from October 1, after the RBI raised the repo rate by 50 basis points in its policy meeting last Friday.

Poonawalla Fincorp: Care Ratings has revised the long-term rating of Poonawalla Fincorp and its subsidiary, Poonawalla Housing Finance (PHFL) to 'AAA' with stable outlook.

Here are the key things investors should know before the market opens today:

Wall Street extends losing streak

U.S. stocks dropped further on Friday amid a surge in government bond yields and the dollar after the Federal Reserve raised interest rate as part of its effort to tame inflation. All three major Wall Street indices fell nearly 1.5% on Friday, while the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average registered their third weekly decline amid persistent concerns about inflation and its impact on the economy. Overall, Wall Street plunged for three consecutive quarters, with the S&P and the Nasdaq Composite posting their longest losing streak since the Great Recession and the Dow's longest in seven years. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.7% lower, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.5% each.

Barring Japan, Asian shares fall

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly lower in opening trade on Monday, barring Japan, tracking weak cues from the U.S. and European markets. The extended fall on Wall Street amid concerns about the impact of an aggressive rate hike on the global economy weighed on market sentiments.

In early trade so far, Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 rose 0.6%, while South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.7%. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.25% and Australia’s ASX 200 index shed 0.1%.

Similarly, Taiwan’s Weighted index fell 0.3%, the Straits Times in Singapore lost 0.4%, and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite dipped 0.3% in opening trade.

Markets in mainland China also witnessed a surge in selling activities, with the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component falling by 0.5% and 1.3%, respectively.

FPIs withdraw ₹7,624 cr in Sept

After infusing funds in July and August, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned net sellers in the Indian equity market in September due to recession fears as central banks globally continued to raise interest rates to curb inflation. FPIs pulled out about ₹7,624 crore from the Indian equities in September, with the majority of the selling witnessed in the second half of the month after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates and vowed to further tighten rates in the future to combat inflation. FPIs turned net sellers in the equity market, but they emerged as net buyers in the debt market with an inflow of ₹4,012 crore, data from NSDL showed.

FIIs outflows continue

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to withdraw money from the Indian equity market amid a spike in bond yields and a hawkish policy stance by central banks. FIIs have withdrawn ₹15,900 crore from equities last week, taking the monthly outflow to over ₹18,300 crore. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) extended support to the market by buying ₹14,000 crore worth of shares in the last month.

GST collections rise 26% YoY to ₹1.48 lakh crore in Sept

Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collections rose to ₹1.48 lakh crore in September, up 26% as compared to the same month last year and 2.8% higher from the last month, as per the data released by the ministry of finance on October 1. This is for the seventh straight month when monthly GST revenues have been more than ₹1.4 lakh crore.