27th September 2024 – 04th October 2024 | Another week in the markets
| S&P 500 | Nasdaq | VIX | DJIA | Russell 1000 | NYSE |
| 5,751.07 | 18,137.85 | 19.21 | 42,352.76 | 3,140.37 | 19,538.68 |
| 0.22% | 0.10% | 13.27% | 0.09% | 0.23% | 0.19% |
| Nifty 50 | Gold | Silver | Brent crude | USD-INR | EUR-INR |
| 25,014.60 | $2,673.20 | $32.44 | $78.14 | 84.03 | 92.34 |
| -4.45% | -0.29% | 1.66% | 8.56% | 0.37% | -1.33% |
Source: MarketWatch
Hello Saturday,
This week, the September jobs report signals that the soft landing is within Fed’s grasp, Tesla global deliveries jumped in the third quarter overcoming prior slumps and ₹16 lakh crore wiped out from the Indian markets as Sensex crashes by 4,100 points.
- Employers in the US added 254,000 jobs in September — markedly higher than the 150,000 new jobs addition projected.
- Tesla’s third-quarter deliveries rebound after taking a beating in the prior quarters.
- A lethal combination of China stimulus and Iran-Israel tensions send investors scurrying for cover —- Sensex falls by 4,100 points this week.
- DMart’s share price tumbles despite strong Q2 business.
Taking stock | Stellar September | Bounceback boost | A ₹16 lakh crore wipeout | DMart’s downturn | Invest wisely | Another week in the markets
Taking stock
Bonds markets dialled down on their recession fears as all the three major US indices welcomed the September jobs report. The S&P 500 added 0.9%, while the Dow Jones shot up more than 300 points to a record high and Nasdaq moved up by 1.2%.
Stellar September!
A soft landing might, after all, be within the Federal Reserve’s grasp. As per the September jobs report, US employers added 254,000 jobs for the month when economists had dismal projections of 150,000. Moreover, the unemployment rate also ticked down to 4.1%, when economists were anticipating the rate to stay put.
The September report should, ideally, close the door on the expectation of a bumper 50 bps rate cut in the November and December FOMC meetings. If the Fed does proceed on expected lines, pushing out the traditional 25 bps rate cuts in November and December each, the American economy will end 2024 with a percentage point rate cut.
The Fed report also highlighted that the doom-and-gloom scenarios by market bears might be blown up. In another sentiment booster, the September report also retrospectively added 72,000 new jobs to the original July and August tally.
Markets were thrilled with the September report. The Dow Jones rose by 340 points to set another record high.
While the jobs report was unexpectedly strong, there are a few weak spots that can unravel labour market’s current euphoria. Analysts indicated that as per the data released by the Labour Department earlier this week, the share of workers quitting their jobs fell to the lowest level in over four years in August. This, analysts believe, indicates that people are reluctant to quit their roles and look for new ones as they have a negative view of new job opportunities.
Bounceback boost!
Tesla’s quarterly sales rebounded in the third quarter soothing the nerves of many investors and analysts worried about the car maker’s dwindling topline. In the July to September period, the carmaker delivered a total of 462,890 vehicles, which is more or less close to the market expectation.
On a year-on-year basis, the sales jumped by 6.4% compared to the same period last year, when the company’s output took a small fall due to slated factory upgrades.
Tesla’s global sales performed far better this quarter thanks to vaulting sales in China, and attractive financing options offered to counter the impact of high inflation rates across the world.
But, higher quarterly numbers offer marginal relief to Tesla, whose sales in the last nine months still trail behind the sales in the same nine months of the previous fiscal year. Analysts are piling pressure on the carmaker to deliver stronger numbers in the last quarter of the year to beat the 2023 results.
2024 has been a difficult year for Tesla. In the first quarter, the company posted a year-on-year decline in deliveries for the first time since 2020. The auto manufacturer’s performance has been sliding on a global scale this year. Overall, for the first half of the year, Tesla sales plummeted by 6.5%.
Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been repositioning investors’ focus on robotics, artificial intelligence and self-driving cars, even as conventional car sales falter in the background. Musk believes that the crop of new technologies would, one day, power the automaker’s value to over $30 trillion.
A ₹16 lakh crore wipeout!
A lethal combination of the China stimulus package and Iran-Israel tensions had led to a massive wipeout of ₹16 lakh crore from the Indian markets. This week alone, Sensex has fallen by over 4,100 points triggering fears about the trajectory of the markets in the coming quarters.
Meanwhile, Nifty has also tested the conviction of investors after falling close to 1% in the last 5 trading sessions. Sensex and Nifty posted their worst week since June 2022 ending the week with a loss of 4.3% and 4.5% respectively.
Institutional investors have been grumbling about heated valuations of the Indian markets, marking out the lack of lucrative value deals as a flood of retail investors are piling into markets distorting valuations.
In the last four trading sessions, FIIs have withdrawn nearly ₹32,000 crore from the markets. On Thursday, FIIs withdrew ₹15,243 crore from the markets marking the highest-ever single-day selling by foreign investors.
DMart’s downturn!
DMart’s share price fell by as much as 4.95% to a low of ₹4,695.40 per share despite the company posting robust quarterly figures for the July-September period.
The company’s standalone revenue jumped to ₹14,050.32 crore from ₹12,307.72 crore reported in the same period in the previous year. The total number of DMart stores dotting the Indian landscape stood at 377, by the end of September.
Improvement in general merchandise and apparel sales pushed up DMart’s profit by 17.5% on a year-on-year basis to ₹773.7 crore. In the previous quarter, the company had posted a net profit of ₹658.7 crore.
Goldman Sachs has a sell rating on the stock. The investment house believes that the company has undergone a major slowdown in growth because of the rise in quick-commerce apps. Additionally, international brokerage house Citi has also assigned a sell rating to the stock on account of throughput turning negative because of an unfavourable product mix. Citi highlighted DMart’s risk related to store expansion and earnings.
Source: Google Finance
Invest wisely
Investing demands that one should always keep an eye on all the developments occurring in the financial and economic landscape. Alas, most investors do not have the time or the inclination to keep up with the nitty-gritty of the business world. This is where the Appreciate app can be of great help to diligent investors. With our deep research capabilities and macroeconomic indicators, you will always be well-informed about macroeconomic and financial events that can have a repercussion on your portfolio. With Appreciate by your side, staying on top of the market cycle is a walk in the park.
Warm regards,
Another week
in the markets
