Stock markets slip into the red: FMCG stocks under pressure

• Indian benchmark indices fell marginally in mid-day trade, after opening in the green.
• FMCG stocks like HUL, ITC and Britannia came under pressure.
• The US stock markets rallied with S&P 500 moving up by 0.6%, and Nasdaq Composite moving up 1% — ahead of a Fed meeting next week.

Indian stock markets fell into the red after trading flat in the morning trade on Friday. Sensex fell by 79 points to 62,768 while the Nifty50 fell 18 points to 18,616 as of 12:56 pm.

The stock of Hindustan Aeronautics went up by 3% in noon trade, while Kotak Mahindra Bank fell slightly by 0.7%.

FMCG stocks came under pressure as HUL fell 1.9%, while Britannia and ITC too fell marginally, after RBI’s subdued commentary on inflation in Thursday’s Monetary Policy Committee commentary.

On Thursday, the stock markets surrendered early gains to close down 0.5% after the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee left base interest rates unchanged, but spoke about its intent to keep inflation down.

Going forward, the markets expect the MPC to keep the pause button pressed on interest rate hikes, through the year.

“While the RBI decided to keep the policy rates unchanged for the second consecutive meeting, it has continued to emphasise on bringing the retail inflation closer to the target of 4%. Amid a volatile global economic scenario and lingering risks to domestic inflation, it is prudent that the RBI has followed a wait-and-watch strategy. With concerns on the growth front abating and CPI inflation likely to remain above the 4% target, we expect a status quo on the policy rates in 2023,” said a report by CARE Ratings.

The US stock markets rallied on June 8 with S&P 500 up 0.6%, and Nasdaq Composite moving up by 1% — ahead of a Fed meeting next week.

The rally however could falter soon, as prices may not be able to ease to the Fed's 2% inflation target without additional rate hikes, said DataTrek Research.

The Asian markets were also upbeat in morning trade with Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rising 1.9%, KOSPI up almost 1%, the Hang Seng gaining 0.3% and the SSE Composite Index marginally up.

Stocks to Watch

HAL: The government-owned defence company Hindustan Aeronautics said that its board of directors are meeting on June 27 to consider a stock split proposal.

Kotak Mahindra Bank: The stock has been in focus since yesterday due to block deal buzz. As per media reports, Canada Pension Fund is likely to pare some its stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank today via block deals.

Tata Power & Tata Steel: Tata Power Renewable Energy received a contract to set up a 966 MW renewable power project for Tata Steel. Tata Steel will invest 26% equity in the project. The wind and solar round-the-clock project is one the largest in this space.