Sensex, Nifty open tepid; rupee at 2-year low

Ganges84

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posted on 9 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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The dollar rose, getting a lift from data showing US housing starts neared an eight-year peak, which raised expectations that the Fed will raise interest rates as soon as next month.

It is a quite start to trade as global markets see sharp cuts. The Sensex is down 10.32 points at 27821.22 and the Nifty is up 0.75 points at 8467.30.

About 359 shares have advanced, 207 shares declined, and 34 shares are unchanged. ONGC, Hero, SBI, Tata Steel and Coal India are major laggards while Dr Reddy's Labs, Cipla, Wipro, Infosys and Sun Pharma are top gainers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee has touched a fresh two-year low in early trade. It has opened lower by 10 paise at 65.40 per dollar against Monday's closing value of 65.32 a dollar. The currency market was shut on Tuesday.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank said, "The impact of the Chinese Yuan depreciation is still being felt across global markets. The USD-INR currency pair has been no exception with the pair finally breaching the psychological 65/dollar figure tracking other Asian peers."

The dollar rose, getting a lift from data showing US housing starts neared an eight-year peak, which raised expectations that the Fed will raise interest rates as soon as September. China stocks continued their sell-off following a whopping 6 percent plunge in the previous session, underscoring that it won't be an easy return to good times for the country's equity market.

The market plunge on Tuesday was attributed to traders cutting back on expectations of more stimulus for the economy - on the back of better housing market data – and support for the stock market – after the China Securities Finance Corporation said it would not intervene further in the market unless there was unusual volatility and systemic risk.

Tumble in Chinese shares and weak earnings from Walmart pressured US stocks and copper prices saw six year lows. Investors will look to US inflation data and minutes of July's Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, as they seek for further clues as to when the Fed will begin raising interest rates.

Oil prices fell again after a brief rise in the previous session, as the United States enters the lower demand autumn season and Asia's leading economies slow down.