oppn parties Stock Markets Crash Heavily

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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Stock Markets Crash Heavily

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2024-01-17 10:43:41

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

There was bloodbath on Dalal Street on Wednesday as markets crashed big time after a big rally a couple of days back. Sensex lost 1628 points or 2.23% to close at 71500 and Nifty lost 460 points or 2.09% to close at 21571.  The immediate trigger for the huge fall was the hawkish stance of US Fed regarding rate cuts which led to spike in yield in US 10-year treasury bonds and a rise in the dollar index. Locally, the market was concerned about the pressure on net interest margin of HDFC Bank although the December quarter results of the bank were as per expectation. The meltdown in HDFC Bank shares, which lost 8.44% today, was a big contributory factor in the crash as it pulled down the price of the shares of other banks also. The Nifty Bank was down 4.3% on persistent sell-off. In the last two trading sessions, the indices have wiped out all the gains made last week and till Monday this week.

The Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said that "I see no reason to move as quickly or cut as rapidly" as in previous rate-cutting cycles, as long as labor markets and economic activity is solid. He added that "when the time is right to begin lowering rates, I believe it can and should be lowered methodically and carefully." The yield on US 10-year treasury bonds spiked to 4% after his comments and stock markets the world over tumbled on selling pressure. Investors in India read this as a signal that the RBI's monetary policy committee will also not cut rates given that inflation remains high in India too. This led to a sell-off, both by foreign and domestic investors.

On the other hand, while HDFC Bank posted good numbers for the December quarter and it met the expectations of the market, analysts found that there was huge pressure on net interest margins and costs were rising too. They said that it meant that going ahead banks would be hard pressed to maintain the level of profitability. HDFC Bank reported an increase of just 4% in net interest income for the December quarter. Analysts said that this meant that operating profit growth drivers were not sustainable (meaning operating profit would go down going ahead). This immediately led to a sell-off in HDFC Bank in particular and all other banks in general. This dragged Nifty Bank down by 4.3%.