(05-Aug-2022)Indices may open on firm note

SGX Nifty:

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could rise 65 points at the opening bell.

The Reserve Bank of India's rate-setting panel on Wednesday (3 August) began its three-day deliberations on the next bi-monthly monetary policy. The Monetary Policy Committee is scheduled to announce its decision today, 5 August 2022. While a 25 bps hike is ruled out, market opinions are reportedly split between a 35 bps hike and a 50 bps hike.

Global markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading higher Friday as investors look ahead to the Reserve Bank of India's interest rate decision and the U.S. jobs report.

Wall Street stocks ended mixed, with gains for high-growth stocks offset by the drag from energy shares, as a key US jobs report loomed on Friday.

The Bank of England (BoE) has hiked UK interest rates by 50 basis points to 1.75% as it looks to combat runaway inflation. Interest rates are now at their highest level since December 2008. The move was widely expected by economists and financial markets, and comes amid mounting pressure to pick up the pace of interest rate rises.

The MPC now projects that the U.K. will enter recession from the fourth quarter of 2022, and that the recession will last five quarters as real household post-tax income falls sharply in 2022 and 2023 and consumption begins to contract.

Domestic markets:

Back home, the key equity barometers ended near the flat line after a volatile session on Thursday, snapping a six-day rising streak. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 51.73 points or 0.09% to 58,298.80. The Nifty 50 index declined 6.15 points or 0.04% to 17,382.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,474.77 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 46.79 crore in the Indian equity market on 4 August, provisional data showed.