European stocks finished mostly lower today after the Fed’s monetary policy meeting began, with the central bank widely expected to raise rates by 75 basis points. UBS Group fell after missing earnings estimates on lower investment banking revenues. Spain’s FTSE MIB Index declined after a reading showed June producer prices rose 1.9% m/m and 44.2% y/y. The euro and British pound declined against the U.S. dollar, while gold prices declined.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.2%, while the yen strengthened slightly, after the currency sank to a multi-decade low. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained nearly two percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.3% and South Korea’s Kospi Index increased 0.4%. The S&P BSE Sensex 30 Index was down 0.9%.
Indian domestic equity markets welcomed the fourth budget of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Several announcements made in Budget 2022-23 lifted benchmarks on Tuesday. Among the biggest gainers and losers on the day were the stocks in telecom, sugar, and pharma. FM Sitharaman’s remarks on 5G and local defence manufacturing units also boosted these sectors. In addition, stocks related to IT and infra also rose.
Top gainers on the Sensex included Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Bharti Axis Bank, HCL Tech, ONGC, and Bajaj Finserv. IndusInd Bank and ITC dipped, but the broader market outperformed both. The Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap indices each rose by more than half a per cent. In the energy sector, the Nifty Metal Index and the Auto Index were the best performers while the Banking and Financial Service Index underperformed.
Understanding how the stock market works will help you become a better investor. The stock market is similar to an auction system where prices are determined by supply and demand and not underlying business fundamentals. It is important to understand how the stock market works and what the market’s leaders are doing to stay competitive. For example, if your company is a blue chip company, the odds are high that it will be a good investment. In addition, stock market performance is often indicative of the health of the economy.
The NASDAQ100 had its worst day since the NASDAQ100 began trading, losing 7.5% in October. Despite this, the index still registered double digit growth y/y. Today’s events include the release of the ISM Services PMI report at 14:00 GMT. Amid these, technology shares continued to fall. Nvidia, a computer chip maker, shed 5.5% of its shares. While the NASDAQ 100 has seen losses, the Nifty 50 has been up by over 10%.
On Tuesday, the NYSE posted gains for the week. The gains are attributed to a negative sentiment on Wall Street. However, the news that a record number of fund managers have decided to take a lower risk than normal triggered a wave of short covering. In addition, the Chinese currency has hit several tech companies, including Didi Global. However, that hasn’t dampened investors’ enthusiasm for the stock market.
