Indian markets slide ahead of US jobs report

Indian markets extended their losing streak for the third straight session on Friday weighed down by investor concerns over the upcoming U.S. jobs report, set to be released later on Friday. At close, the Sensex was down 1,017.23 points or 1.24 percent at 81,183.93, and the Nifty was down 292.95 points or 1.17 percent at 24,852.15. For the week, BSE Sensex and Nifty50 indices shed 1.5 percent each.
Asian Paints, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance, LTIMindtree and Divis Labs were the biggest gainers on the Nifty while losers included SBI, HCL Technologies, NTPC, ICICI Bank and BPCL.On the sectoral front,all the sectoral indices ended in the red with auto, PSU Bank, oil & gas, media, telecom, IT, realty, capital goods down 1-3 percent.The BSE midcap index shed 1.4 percent, while the smallcap index declined 1 percent after hitting a fresh record high.
Rupee Close:
On 06 Sep'24,the Indian rupee gained 2 paise to close at 83.95  against the US dollar on Friday amid a weak greenback in overseas markets. However,negative domestic markets, rise in crude oil prices, and outflow of foreign capital capped sharp gains, forex traders reportedly stated.
Trading Guide:
Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services reportedly quoted as saying,the near-term trend in the market will be influenced by the US jobs data to be published tonight. There is a consensus that the Fed will cut rates in the September meeting but the extent of the cut will be determined by the jobs data. If the August jobs numbers come lower than market expectations and the unemployment rises higher than market expectations, the Fed may even cut by 50 bps.
Market experts have recommended these five shares to buy- Alkem Laboratories, Aditya Vision, Sonata Software, MTAR Technologies, and Global Health

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