Not Out Of The Woods Yet
India’s current account deficit has widened in first quarter of 2022 to USD 13.4 billion. Along with Sensex trading notably lower, the rupee has touched its all-time low.
The Indian currency depreciated as opposed to the dollar over the last fortnight. The government bond yield also saw a slight decrease and reached 7.40 per cent from a three-year high of 7.68 on June 13 as retail inflation softened from last month. The BSE Sensex slid by 118.72 points or 0.22 per cent to 53,161.28 in the past 15 days, recovering losses, tracking easing fears about global inflation and aggressive monetary tightening from major central banks. The S and P BSE Power index is down 2.35 per cent, quoting at 3,915.18 points. Among the other constituents of the index, JSW Energy Ltd. decreased 22.84 per cent and Adani Power lost 16.95 per cent during the last month.
The realty sector also witnessed a fall of 1.23 per cent with a closing of 3,050.84 points on June 24. This was deemed controversial as many companies are resuming working from office and the demand is rising for office spaces. The automobile industries have seen great recovery amongst all the other sectors of 3.91 per cent. The push was mainly due to the green revolution in the sector. Automotive ancillaries’ revenues are expected to grow 8-10 per cent in 2022-23 on the back of stable demand and likely easing of supply chain concerns in the second half of the year.
The oil and gas sector observed a big drop of 5.93 per cent over the last fortnight. Despite increase in the refining capacity, OMCs continued to stay under pressure due to mounting losses related to marketing and the continuing freeze on domestic retail prices while estimated losses on petrol and diesel have risen to ₹10.50 and ₹12.50 per litre, respectively. The FMCG sector has picked up pace as the snacks and stationery sales picked with children returning to school. But inflation continues to remain the key component and a challenge to the companies.
The sector rose by 1.64 per cent to a level of 13,776.13. The healthcare sector has also increased by 0.28 per cent to trade at the 21,666.39 level. Most of the healthcare stocks are trading on the higher side as a result of good 