Sensex, Nifty Recover To Stall Six-Day Losing Streak As Global Stocks Bounce

Indian equity benchmarks recovered to open higher on Thursday, stalling a six-day losing streak, mirroring a rally in global stocks after the Bank of England stepped in with an emergency bond-buying programme to mitigate the UK bonds and pound crisis, helping boost risk sentiment.

The BSE Sensex index rose over 500 points to trade back above the 57,000 level, and the broader NSE Nifty opened in the green, nearly 1 per cent higher. That rally early Thursday stalled six straight days of losses for both benchmarks.

“Markets are likely to see a firm opening on Thursday, tracking a recovery in other Asian indices after US gauges staged a smart recovery in the overnight trades, said Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President for Research at Mehta Equities, before the opening bell.

“The key positive catalyst is yields in the US, and Europe retreated after the Bank of England’s announcement that it will carry out temporary purchases of long-dated UK government bonds in order to restore orderly market conditions offered investors some support,” he said.

“However, caution will still prevail, and the intra-day choppy trend is not ruled out due to global uncertainty over persisting increase in interest rates, rising inflation and geo-political tensions,” added Mr Tapse.

Asian stocks bounced, mirroring a rally on Wall Street overnight, with the S&P 500 snapping a six-day losing streak to surge nearly 2 per cent.

The largest Asia-Pacific share index outside of Japan, according to MSCI, was up 1.5 per cent and on track to have its best session in a month. Nikkei in Japan rose nearly 1 per cent.

After causing a decline in UK asset prices, the unfunded tax cuts proposed in Britain last week have impacted broader financial markets beyond the island’s borders.

The BoE’s intervention came after efforts to stabilise their financial markets this week in Korea, India, and Indonesia, as the US dollar saw a significant increase.

It’s all a bit of a mess,” ANZ economist Finn Robinson told Reuters. “How long the calm and fresh optimism lasts remains to be seen. For one, this re-stimulation will lift, not quell UK inflation, and that’s bad for bonds and sterling.”

Officials from the Federal Reserve persisted in emphasising the hawkish attitude of the US central bank.

Raphael Bostic, president of the Fed’s Atlanta branch, said he supports increasing rates by an additional 1.25 percentage points by year’s end to combat inflation worse than he anticipated.

“All eyes are on inflation and interest rates,” said Josh Emanuel, a Chief Investment Officer of Investment Management at Wilshire, told Bloomberg. “Equities are really going to take their cues from the bond market. So if you see bond yields move lower, that is a good sign for equities.”

In response to Russia’s further annexation of Ukraine, officials from the European Union unveiled new economic sanctions against it.

The latest penalties would prevent third-party nations from selling Russian oil for more than a predetermined price. The sanctions will cost Russia’s economy some $6.7 billion in damages.

“The markets are very pessimistic. Investors are fairly on the sidelines,” said Julia Raiskin, Asia-Pacific Head of Markets for Citigroup, told Bloomberg. “Other than the dollar, there are not many assets that are trading constructively.”