After a sharp rally, Indian equities resumed their losing streak in Tuesday’s session (August 12) as investors remained cautious ahead of key US inflation data, which is likely to shape the Federal Reserve’s path on interest rates.
Profit booking also weighed on markets, leading the Nifty 50 to close 0.40% lower at 24,487 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.46% to 80,233 points. Both indices erased around 50% of the gains recorded in the previous session, while the broader markets also ended in the red.
Data due Tuesday is expected to show that US consumers saw a slight pickup in inflation as retailers gradually raised prices on various items subject to higher import duties.
In the US, the core consumer price index, regarded as a measure of underlying inflation because it strips out volatile food and energy costs, is projected to have risen 0.3% in July, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
On the trade front, President Donald Trump on Monday delayed the reimposition of high US tariffs on Chinese goods for another 90 days. The move was the expected outcome from the latest round of talks between US trade negotiators and their Chinese counterparts, held in Stockholm in late July.
Meanwhile, to mitigate the effect of higher US tariffs, India is reportedly looking to expand its export outreach to 50 countries, which together account for about 90% of its outbound shipments.
On the geopolitical front, Trump downplayed expectations for his upcoming meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, describing it as a “feel-out meeting” and saying he would confer with Ukrainian and European leaders after the discussion as he seeks to end the war in Ukraine.
18 Nifty 500 stocks crash up to 8.5%
Astral emerged as the worst performer among Nifty 500 stocks today, tumbling 8.4% to ₹1,266 after investors were disappointed with the company’s June quarter performance.
A similar sell-off was seen in Praj Industries, which plunged 7.1% to ₹413 following Q1 results that showed a more than 90% drop in net profit to ₹5.34 crore.
Action Construction Equipment shares also slumped 6.4% to ₹944 apiece, while Syrma SGS Technology fell 6% to ₹675. Other stocks such as Schneider Electric, Kajaria Ceramics, Bata India, KNR Constructions, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, and nine other Nifty 500 constituents declined between 3% and 6.4%.
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