Stock Market LIVE updates: Sensex, Nifty subdued; metals tank, PSU banks down

India’s Russian coal buying spikes as traders offer steep discounts: Reuters 

India’s purchases of Russian coal have surged in recent weeks despite global sanctions on Moscow, as traders offer discounts of up to 30%, according to two trade sources and data reviewed by Reuters.

Russia, facing severe Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, warned the European Union in April against sweeping sanctions on coal, saying they would backfire as the fuel would be redirected to other markets.

India has refrained from condemning Russia, with which it has longstanding political and security ties, while calling for an end to violence in Ukraine. New Delhi defends its purchases of Russian goods as part of an effort to diversify supplies and argues a sudden halt would jack up world prices and hurt its consumers.

Rupee rises 12 paise to 77.93 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee strengthened 12 paise to 77.93 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday as easing crude oil prices supported the local unit.

However, unabated foreign fund outflows, a lacklustre trend in domestic equities and a strong dollar overseas capped gains, forex dealers said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened strong at 77.98 against the US dollar, then inched higher to quote 77.93, registering a rise of 12 paise over the last close.

In the previous session, the rupee advanced 5 paise to settle at 78.05 against the US dollar.

Top gainers/losers on Nifty at this hour 

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Derivatives view: ICICI Securities 

Nifty

The Nifty declined for the sixth consecutive session on Friday and ended last week with a loss of around 5.5%. According to options data, aggressive Call writing was seen across multiple strikes, especially 15500 Call strike that holds substantial OI, which should act as resistance. Hence, any rise around 15500 levels should be used to create short positions.

Bank Nifty

On Friday, the Bank Nifty relatively outperformed the Nifty and closed with a gain of 0.38%. The Bank Nifty 32500 Put strike holds sizeable OI, which should act as immediate support for the day while on the higher side 33000 Call strike should act as an immediate resistance and limit upsides.

Top gainers/losers on Sensex at this hour 

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Metal, realty, bank indices under pressure 

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Nifty opens above 15,300

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Sensex opens higher, rise more than 150 points at open 

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Sensex flat in pre-open

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Nifty flat in pre-open 

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Vedanta invites EoI for its Tuticorin copper smelter 

Vedanta has invited Expressions of Interest (EoI) for its Tuticorin-based smelter, Sterlite Copper, which has been shut since mid-2018, following a Tamil Nadu government order. The last day to submit EoIs is 4 July.

Plant units, including oxygen generation facility as well as residential homes, are also part of the sale offer. The plant has faced closures over alleged violation of environmental norms.

Sterlite Copper accounted for 40% of India’s copper output, before it was forced to close.

Nifty view: Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel One

The Nifty is exactly placed at the previous breakout point of May 2021 which is around 15400 – 15300. In addition, the ‘RSI-Smoothened’ oscillator on the daily chart is showing a ‘Positive Divergence’ i.e. lower lows in recent prices and higher lows in the oscillator. This condition generally happens at the fag end of any downtrend. Hence, looking at the charts, we are clearly in two minds at this juncture. In our sense, although we did not manage to catch the recent down move, it’s better not to get carried away in the challenging times. As far as supports are concerned, 15200 – 15000 are to be seen as immediate support and breach of the same, would certainly create some panic kind of situation in our markets.

Markets would regain strength only after surpassing the key levels of 15700 – 15800 on a closing basis. Till then it’s not advisable to carry aggressive longs overnight. Traders are advised to take one step at a time in the forthcoming week and should ideally look to lighten up positions during the day only. Since we are mirroring the global trends, markets can surprise us anytime in either direction. There is a famous saying in the market that one should avoid catching a falling knife (market). This holds true for momentum traders but with a slightly broader perspective, we are of the strong belief that no one should certainly start accumulating quality propositions in a staggered manner.

A major revamp awaits at Banks Board Bureau

The finance ministry is working to expand and relaunch the Banks Board Bureau (BBB) by bringing in more representatives from the insurance sector, two people aware of the matter said. The move aims to legally empower the body to recommend candidates for public sector insurers, and accelerate top-level hiring at all state-run financial institutions.  (Read here)

Air India prepares one of the largest aircraft deals in history: Bloomberg 

Air India Ltd. is considering ordering as many as 300 narrowbody jets, according to people familiar with the matter, in what could be one of the largest orders in commercial aviation history as the formerly state-run airline looks to overhaul its fleet under new ownership.

The carrier may order Airbus SE’s A320neo family jets or Boeing Co.’s 737 Max models, or a mix of both, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are confidential. A deal for 300 737 Max-10 jets could be worth $40.5 billion at sticker prices, although discounts are common in such large purchases.

Winning a narrowbody order in India would be a coup for Boeing, as rival Airbus dominates the skies in the country, the world’s fastest-growing aviation market before the Covid pandemic. IndiGo, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., is the world’s largest customer for the European manufacturer’s best-selling narrowbodies, ordering more than 700, and others including Vistara, Go Airlines India Ltd. and AirAsia India Ltd. fly planes from the same family.

SGX Nifty ticks lower 

Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange fell 70.50 points, or 0.46%, to 15,245 in early deals on Monday, hinting at a weak start for Indian incomes.

On Friday, the BSE Sensex fell 135 points to 51,360, while the Nifty50 declined 67 points to 15,293.

Asia starts on weak note; monetary tightening weighs

Asian stocks fell Monday and US equity futures erased a climb as tightening monetary policy kept sentiment in check.

MSCI Inc.’s gauge of Asia-Pacific shares hit the lowest since June 2020 amid drops in Japan and Hong Kong and mixed performance in China, where banks kept their main lending rates unchanged.

S&P 500 contracts turned lower, while those for the Nadsaq 100 reversed a gain of more than 1%.

Markets are set to remain on edge amid elevated price pressures and concern that monetary tightening in a range of nations portends more losses.

In the latest Fed commentary, Governor Christopher Waller said he would support another 75-basis-point rate increase at the central bank’s July meeting should economic data come in as he expects.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.1%. Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.4%

Japan’s Topix index fell 1.1%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.6%, South Korea’s Kospi fell 2.3%, Hang Seng Index fell 0.4%, and Shanghai Composite was little changed.

On Friday, Wall Street stocks ended a rocky week mostly higher but lower for the week amid worsening fears of recession as the US central bank takes aggressive action against inflation.

The broad-based S&P 500, which entered a bear market week, added 0.2% to finish at 3,674.84, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.4% to 10,798.35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.% to 29,888.78, after closing below 30,000 on Thursday for the first time since January 2021.

The S&P lost 5.8% in the week, its worst performance since 2020, while the Dow and Nasdaq dropped 4.8%.

Wall Street stocks have been battered amid moves to raise interest rates to combat blistering inflation.