Ahead of Market: 10 things that will decide stock market action on Thursday

The Indian stock market closed in the red on Wednesday, with the Sensex and Nifty snapping a two-session relief rally as investors reacted to the RBI’s first rate hike in nearly four years and its shift to a ‘calibrated tightening’ stance.

Sensex lost 429 points to close below 72,639 while Nifty 50 dropped more than 173 points to end the session near 22,603. Broader markets were mixed, with Nifty Midcap 100 in the red and Nifty Smallcap 100 in the green.

Also read | RBI hikes rate, but analysts see shift to ‘calibrated tightening’ as bigger takeaway. How can this impact markets?

Here's how analysts read the market pulse

With the RBI delivering the rate hike on expected lines, the domestic market reacted more sharply to the shift in policy stance from neutral to calibrated tightening, which signals a turn in the rate cycle, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments. While the upward revision to growth projections reaffirmed the strength of domestic fundamentals, the higher inflation outlook and the RBI's emphasis on price stability tempered sentiment, he added.

“Ahead of the U.S. FOMC meeting, the rupee remained under pressure amid rising U.S. yields, a stronger dollar and continued FII outflows, adding to the market decline. Sectorally, banking stocks bucked the broader weakness on expectations of margin benefits from a higher-rate environment, while selling pressure remained widespread across most pockets of the market,” he added.

“Looking ahead, the market focus will turn to the September-quarter earnings season for further direction. A resilient macroeconomic backdrop supports headline expectations, but investors will watch management commentary closely for evidence on whether the companies can absorb rising input costs, retain pricing power and sustain demand through the second half of the fiscal year,” according to the analyst.

US stocks

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 eased from record highs on Wednesday as Treasury yields and oil prices rebounded, keeping investors cautious as they awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve's September meeting.

Sentiment turned more cautious as investors reassessed the outlook for interest rates and energy costs. Brent crude was back above the psychologically important $100-a-barrel level as Middle East supply concerns persisted.

Chip stocks were among the top decliners. Memory chip firm Micron Technology dropped 2.3%, chip giant Nvidia eased 0.7% and the broader Philadelphia chip index fell 2.3%.

European markets

European stocks and the euro fell sharply on Wednesday as oil prices rose above $100 amid renewed Middle East tensions while concerns France's fiscal woes could affect broader debt markets continued to weigh on overall sentiment.

Europe's STOXX 600 was down 1.02% at 630.12. It hit 624.85 last week, its lowest level since June 12.


The euro tumbled on Wednesday as French bonds came under renewed pressure on fiscal concerns, while the dollar advanced as investors awaited the minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve meeting for clues on the central bank's policy path.


Yields on euro zone bonds rose, with those of more indebted countries spiking more sharply than those of safe havens such as Germany as French fiscal worries dragged on and oil prices came back into focus.

The French 10-year yield surged 14.9 basis points, on track for its biggest daily jump in two weeks, at 4.8959% while the German 10-year bond yield edged up 0.8 basis point to 3.489%.

Also read | Markets can be irrational in the short run: What RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said as rupee nears lifetime low

Most active stocks in terms of turnover

Chennai Petro (Rs 3,133 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 2,553 crore), BSE (Rs 2,194 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 2,111 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 1,993 crore), Kotak Mahindra Bank (Rs 1,666 crore) and RIL (Rs 1,438 crore) were among the most active stocks on NSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with the highest trading turnovers in the day.

Most active stocks in volume terms

Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 37.7 crore), Yes Bank (Traded shares: 7.39 crore), Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 7.35 crore), Ola Electric Mobility (Traded shares: 6.14 crore), ITC (Traded shares: 5 crore), JP Power (Traded shares: 4.42 crore) and Groww (Traded shares: 4.24 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.

Stocks showing buying interest

Chennai Petro, PVR Inox, PTC Industries, Bharti Hexacom, Cupid, Physicswallah and AGC Networks were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.

52-week high

Among the ones which hit their 52-week highs on NSE included PVR Inox, PTC Industries, Cupid, Gland Pharma, HFCL, TBO Tek and Laurus Labs.

Stocks seeing selling pressure

Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were NALCO, GSK Pharma, Vedanta Iron and Steel, Titan Company, Adani Enterprises, Balkrishna Industries and IndusInd Bank.

52-week low

Among the ones which hit their 52-week lows on NSE included KEC International, UPL, Century Textiles, Inox Wind, SBI Card, Chambal Fertilisers and M&M.

Sentiment meter favours bears

Out of the 3,690 stocks that traded on the NSE on October 7, Wednesday, 2,043 stocks witnessed advances, 1,549 stocks saw declines while 98 stocks remained unchanged.

Also read | HDFC Bank shares drop 15% in 3 months since Q1 results. Will Q2 earnings bring redemption as leadership cloud clears?

Disclaimer: This article has been written by Debaroti Adhikary, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Debaroti Adhikary and his/her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here.
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