Mumbai: Indian stock markets remained cautious over the weekend ahead of US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's statement on interest rate cuts at the Jackson Hole symposium tonight. The market expects Powell to give an indication of when and how much interest rates will be reduced in the US. Benchmark indices closed flat with marginal improvement while midcaps traded in gains. The Sensex and Nifty indices witnessed marginal fluctuations at the end of the week. However, the midcap index declined. The Sensex rose 33.02 to close at 81086.21 while the Nifty 50 index rose 11.65 to close at 24823.15. Nifty Midcap fell 289 points. Auto stocks continued to rise, while realty stocks declined. The market sentiment on the BSE remained positive. 2064 stocks rose while 1877 stocks declined. Prices of 107 stocks remained unchanged. Shares of ADAG companies fell due to SEBI's action against 24 people and companies besides Anil Ambani.
Realty stocks weaken
Investors have also turned cautious towards real estate companies domestically as China's property market is in bubble zone. Skyrocketing property prices are also expected to impact demand. Sobha fell Rs 5.70 to Rs 1687.95, DLF fell Rs 9.75 to Rs 849.50, Godrej Properties fell Rs 49.50 to Rs 2883.65, Oberoi Realty fell Rs 31.00 to Rs 1703.10. All stocks in the Nifty Realty index closed with losses except Sunteck Realty.
IT index fell by 416 points
IT stocks witnessed profit selling amid uncertainty over interest rate cuts in the US. Institutional investors were keeping an eye on the statement of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on interest rate cuts on Friday night. The interest rate situation in the US is affecting the operations of IT companies in India. Tech Mahindra fell Rs 12.85 to Rs 1598.40, TCS fell Rs 38.10 to Rs 4463.90, HCL Tech fell Rs 14.70 to Rs 1661.45.
Crack in Anil Ambani's companies!
Share prices of Reliance Power, Reliance Home Finance and Reliance Infra were impacted. Reliance Power and Reliance Home Finance hit lower circuits while Reliance Infra closed down 10 per cent at Rs 211.76 after heavy volatility. Trading in RCom, Reliance Capital and Reliance Naval and Engineering was suspended. Following this misconduct, SEBI has banned Anil Ambani and 24 others from entering the capital markets for five years and imposed a hefty fine of up to Rs 25 crore.
Purchases of foreign and domestic companies
FIIs/FPIs and DIIs were net buyers in the Indian stock market on Friday. FIIs/FPIs bought equities worth Rs 16775.70 crore and sold Rs 14831.22 crore, making a net purchase of Rs 1944.48 crore. DIIs bought equities worth Rs 13341.03 crore and sold Rs 10445.01 crore, making a net purchase of Rs 2896.02 crore.