Sensex, Nifty to fall; Paytm, L&T, Adani Power, IIFL Finance, ACC, Ambuja Cements eyed

The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty are set to start the week on a negative note, tracking weakness in the Asian market and losses over the weekend in U.S. stocks. The growing concerns about slowing global economic growth dented sentiments as traders feared that continued rate hikes would push major economies such as the U.S. into recession. Back home, bearish trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a negative opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 63 points, or 0.36%, lower at 17,677 levels on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:10 AM. This week the market may see volatility on the eve of the expiry of August futures & options (F&O) contracts on August 25 as market participants will settle their current month positions and roll over the positions to next month. On the global front, the U.S. will release its initial jobless claims data on August 25 while on August 26 Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.

Last week, the Indian equities ended with marginal gains as traders resorted to profit booking in the last session of the week ended August 19. The 30-share Sensex settled the week with a 0.31% gain at 59,646 levels, while the 50-share Nifty index ended 0.34% higher at 17,758. On Friday, the BSE Sensex ended 658 points, or 1.09%, lower at 59,640, and the NSE Nifty fell 178 points, or 0.99%, to close at 17,779 levels amid profit booking and weak global cues. The top losers on the Sensex pack were NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Power Grid Corporation, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki, and Asian Paints. Bucking the trend, IT stocks saw buying with Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, and TCS ending in positive terrain.

Stocks to watch

Paytm: One97 Communications Limited (OCL), which owns the brand Paytm, has reappointed Vijay Shekhar Sharma as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer as 99.67% of shareholders voted in favour of him.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T): The engineering and construction major on Saturday announced the commissioning of a green hydrogen plant at its manufacturing facility in Hazira, Gujarat.

AstraZeneca Pharma India: The drug company has received import and market permission and the new drug approval from the Drugs Controller General of India for Olaparib film-coated tablets.

Ambuja Cements, ACC: Billionaire Gautam Adani-led Adani Group is likely to launch an open offer worth ₹31,000 crore this week to acquire a 26% stake each in Swiss major Holcim's two Indian listed entities - Ambuja Cements and ACC - from public shareholders.

Tejas Networks: The company has acquired the remaining 93,571 equity shares in Saankhya Labs at ₹454.19 apiece for ₹4.25 crore through secondary purchase.

Central Bank of India: The public sector lender has inked a strategic co-lending partnership with Incred Financial Services to offer loans to MSME borrowers at competitive rates.

Adani Power: The Adani group company has agreed to buy the thermal power assets of DB Power Limited (DBPL) for nearly ₹7,017 crore enterprise valuation.

IIFL Finance: CDC Group Plc, the development finance institution owned by the U.K. government, on Friday sold a 3.56% stake in IIFL Finance for ₹453 crore through an open market transaction.

Balrampur Chini Mills, Delta Corp, Tata Chemicals: All these three companies will be under the NSE F&O ban today as they have crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.

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

Wall Street ends lower

On Friday, the U.S. indices closed lower as investors remained concerned about inflation and the Federal Reserve’s future course of action to combat it. Investors kept a close eye on the speech by Fed chair Jerome Powell on Friday at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on the outlook for inflation and interest rate hikes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 0.86%, the S&P 500 shed 1.29%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite settled 2% lower.

Barring China, Asian shares drop

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly lower, barring China, in opening trade on Monday, tracking weakness in U.S. equity futures, while the dollar rose amid looming concerns about a rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Adding to it, persistent concerns about the health of China's economy also put pressure on regional stocks.

Regional heavyweight Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.45%, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong shed 0.5%, and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite dropped 0.4%. Similarly, Taiwan Weighted index plunged 0.9% and Australia’s ASX 200 declined 0.7%.

Similarly, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.8%, while Singapore’s Straits Times added 0.3%.

Markets in mainland China were trading higher, with the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component rising by 0.35% and 0.65%, respectively.

FPIs buy Indian equities worth ₹44,500 cr in Aug

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have turned bullish on Indian equities and have invested around ₹44,500 crore in August so far amid easing inflation concerns in the U.S. and falling dollar index. This is the highest investment made by them so far this year after turning net buyers for the first time in July 2022, snapping nine straight months of fund outflows. From October 2021 to June 2022, FPIs sold a ₹2.46 lakh crore in the Indian equity markets.

FIIs turn net buyers, DIIs net sellers

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in the Indian equity market on August 19, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) emerged as net sellers. As per the exchange data, FIIs net purchased shares worth ₹1,110.90 crore, while DIIs net sold stocks worth ₹1,633.21 crore.

Crude prices fall sharply

Brent and U.S. crude prices fell over 1% in early trade on Monday amid reports that Iran and Western countries are in talks to lift a ban on the Iranian oil supply. If the deal succeeded, Iran is projected to release over 1 million barrels of oil per day of supply immediately into the market, which may push prices further lower. The oil market is already battling with a weak demand outlook due to the looming fear of recession in the U.S. and China.

In early Asian trading hours on Monday, the Brent oil for October delivery was down 1% at $95.75 per barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude September futures fell 0.95% to $89.58 a barrel.