Sensex And Nifty Start Weak, Stalling A Three-Day Winning Streak

Indian equity benchmarks start the week on a ginger note, stalling a three straight sessions of gains, as investors eye domestic and international inflation data, which will clarify the direction of monetary policy path.

The BSE Sensex index fell 372.15 points to 54,109.69, and the Nifty index was down nearly 0.6 per cent at 16,126.45, dragged by technology companies after top IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) missed estimates for June-quarter profit.

Shares of TCS fell 2.3 per cent, after it missed quarterly profit estimates by a wide margin as employee-related expenses soared. The index heavyweight also pulled down the tech index by 2 per cent.

On the other hand, D-Mart owner Avenue Supermarts jumped 2.9 per cent after strong earnings results.

"Some stock specific actions can be seen in Tata Consultancy Services and Avenue Supermarts which declared its Q1FY23 results on Friday post market hours. The IT giant posted a 16% rise in revenue while witnessing a shrink in margins on a sequential and yearly basis on the back of annual wage hike cycle and increase in attrition rate," Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS at Hem Securities, told ANI.

Among other individual stocks, Bharti Airtel, TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, and Wipro were the top five losers among the Nifty 50 companies, while NTPC, M&M, ONGC, Eicher Motors, and Tata Consumers were the top five gainers.

That ginger start is a pre-cursor to investor caution and jitters ahead of key economic data releases in the week ahead.

Reuters reported that Asian shares started cautiously on Monday as investors braced for a US inflation report that could force another super-sized hike in interest rates, and the start of an earnings season where profits could be under pressure.

An upbeat US June payrolls report - a key gauge of employment health - already has the market wagering heavily on a hike of 75 basis points from the Federal Reserve this month.

Domestic investors will also eye India's retail inflation release, due on Thursday at 1730 IST. 

“Local stocks are likely to drift lower in morning trades Monday, as key Asian indices, especially Chinese gauges, lost considerable ground after its annual inflation climbed to 2.5 per cent in June against the market forecast of 2.4 per cent," said Prashanth Tapse, Vice President for Research at Mehta Equities.

"However, stock specific action is likely to command investors' attention, as the undertone of the market remains caution to bearish," he added.

That comes as world stocks have lost over $20 trillion in value since January peaks and as investors brace for more colossal wealth wipe.

For more cues, inflation data will be eyed.

"The sharp decline in prices of commodities, particularly of crude, metals, wheat and edible oil augurs well for inflation management in India. This means, RBI can afford to go a bit slow on hiking interest rates in India. This positive trend is likely to keep the domestic equity market resilient," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, told ANI.

"The market texture reflects a change in investment strategy from sell on rallies in June to buy on dips in July. Segments like capital goods, autos and high-quality financials indicate strength," Mr Vijayakumar added.

While Wall Street did eke out some gains last week the market mood was cautious and Asia shares started gingerly.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan hovered around flat. South Korea eased 0.3 per cent, but Japan's Nikkei added 1.5 per cent.