Market Bizzz

​​​The dollar index held close to a more than one-week low hit on Friday. A weaker dollar makes gold less expensive for buyers holding other currencies. Fed officials on Friday ended their public comment period ahead of the U.S. central bank’s Sept. 20-21 policy meeting, with strong calls for another oversized rate increase to battle high inflation.

JSW Paints, a unit of the steel-to-cement JSW Group, is a recent entrant into the decorative paints market where Asian Paints holds about 40% share. The company had alleged in 2020 that Asian Paints was using its dominant position in the market to block its entry into the states of Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

The euro rose back above parity to a three-week high against the dollar, a day after the ECB raised rates by a record 75 basis points on Thursday and signalled further hikes to fight inflation, even as the bloc’s economy eyed a winter recession.

Chart readers said that the bulls would attempt to break over 18,500 levels during the coming weeks while 18,000 would work as a resistance level in the near term. Support would come in around 17,500 levels. While asking traders to focus more on midcap and smallcap stocks, experts expect profit in financial stocks and outperformance in technology stocks.

Currency moves overnight were calmer for once even as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed the central bank’s aggressive stance against inflation, which reinforced the greenback’s dominance.

​​​​​The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to a three-month low, underscoring the robustness of the labor market. The European Central Bank raised its key interest rates by an unprecedented 75 basis points on Thursday and promised further hikes, to combat inflation even as the bloc is likely heading towards a winter recession and gas rationing.

The drop has come despite a small output cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, together called OPEC+, Russia’s threat to cut oil flows to any country that backs a price cap on its crude, and a weaker outlook for U.S. oil production growth.

Stocks that were in focus include names like EIH which was up over 11 per cent, Wockhardt rose more than 8 per cent, and Hindustan Foods rose nearly 6 per cent on Wednesday.