Nifty, Sensex slide as Hindenburg report on SEBI chief spooks markets

The domestic equity benchmark indices, Nifty and Sensex opened on a cautious note on Monday,following a strong performance in the previous session. The cautious start comes after Hindenburg Research, a US short-seller, claimed that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch held stakes in offshore entities tied to Adani, causing mild tremors in the market.At close the Sensex was down 56.99 points or 0.07 percent at 79,648.92, and the Nifty was down 20.50 points or 0.08 percent at 24,347.
Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank, ONGC, Infosys and JSW Steel were the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included NTPC, Britannia Industries, Adani Ports, SBI, and Dr Reddy's Labs.
On the sectoral front, FMCG, power, PSU Bank and media were down 0.5 -2 percent, while bank, telecom, IT, oil & gas, metal and realty were up 0.3-1 percent.The BSE midcap index ended flat, while the smallcap index was up 0.5 percent.
Rupee Close:
On 12 Aug'24,the Indian rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled for the day lower by 2 paise at 83.97 against the US dollar on Monday, as market participants remained on the sidelines ahead of the release of key domestic macroeconomic data.Forex traders reportedly stated the Indian rupee declined on a positive tone in the U.S. dollar and a surge in crude oil prices.
Trading Guide:
The Indian market exhibited a mild optimism, although the initial path was eclipsed by the continuation of the Adani-Hindenburg-SEBI saga. However, the market brushed away these noises, taking positive cues from global markets. Moreover, the domestic market is anticipating ease in CPI inflation, which is going to be further supported by a good monsoon. Yet, the upside risk remains still, given firm oil prices and volatility in food inflation," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, reportedly stated. Market experts have recommended five shares to buy today — Tips Industries, Oil India Ltd, ICICI Bank, Laurus Labs, and DLF.

(Writer is a Finance Research Analyst, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat)