Nifty selloff after RBI hawkish commentary

New Delhi, Aug 10

Domestic equities got spooked post the hawkish commentary from RBI, says Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Though RBI kept its Repo rate status quo unchanged at 6.5 per cent, it revised the inflation estimates for FY24 upwards to 5.4 per cent and imposed an incremental CRR of 10 per cent in near term.

Nifty opened lower cautiously awaiting the outcome and witnessed sell-off post the RBI statement. It finally closed with a loss of 89 points (-0.5 per cent) at 19543 levels, he said.

Even the broader market ended in losses with the majority of the sectors in red. Media was the biggest gainer post positive NCLT verdict received by Zee for its merger with Sony.

Apart from Media, Metals and Oil & Gas managed to close in green. Markets will now take cues from US inflation data which will be released late Thursday as the data would further provide insights into Fed’s future policy decision, he said.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said inflation concerns have resurfaced in the domestic market after the RBI elevated their CPI forecast by 30 basis points to 5.4 per cent, thereby increasing the chances of a protracted rate cut trajectory. Furthermore, the RBI's move to control liquidity through incremental CRR dented the sentiments of the banking sector, although the impact is projected to be limited.

Against this backdrop, investors will be closely watching the US inflation print today and the domestic inflation data on Monday, he said.