Weekly Stock Market Report: August- Week 4, 2023

Weekly Wrapup

It was a proud week for Indians as India became the first country to land on the moon's South Pole. However, the week was not so good for the investors and bulls, who seemed to be defeated by the bears.

• All in all, there was a decline of 0.23% in the Nifty50.
• The Nifty500 ended the week with a positive 0.38% return.
• The reduced FII inflow caused a lack of momentum on the higher side.

On the bright side, space exploration as a sector received a lot of attention after the success of the Chandrayaan-3.

• Multiple stocks like MTAR, HAL, Paras Defence, etc., witnessed massive buying after the successful touchdown on the Moon.

Fun Fact: The total budget of Chandrayaan-3 was around Rs 615 crore ($75 million), which is lower than the budget of Interstellar at $165.

Even though investors in these companies were happy, others weren’t, mainly because of the relentless selling for the past week.

• The rising inflation numbers have cautioned investors. After tomato prices stabilised, multiple other commodities have witnessed either export bans or high duties.
• For the first time in history, an export duty of 40% was imposed on the export of Onions, fearing further price hikes.
• Due to the lack of proper rainfall this year, a complete ban on sugar exports will be imposed from October, expecting a fall in sugarcane production.
• Retail inflation in India reached a 15-month high of 7.44% in July, with food inflation at 11.5%.
• Investors are speculating further rate hikes by the RBI due to the rising inflation numbers.

Due to these factors, banking stocks and consumer staples witnessed selling, further fueling the selling in the indices.

Leaders & Laggards

In the fourth week of August, almost all the sectors closed in red as selling pressure dragged them from their recent highs.

• Regarding models, ‘Back Up’ & ‘Quick Short’ were this week's top performers with 5.59% and 4.44% returns.
• Conversely, ‘Long India’ and ‘Nightcrawler’ were the underperforming models, with -20% returns in the same period.

PRAKASH, or Prakash Industries Limited, a company engaged in mining, steel and power operations, was the top performing stock with a return of 35.06%, as a part of the ‘Sector Superstars’ model.

ASHAPURMIN, or Ashapura Minechem Limited. Another mining company that owns and exports bentonite returned 30.05% as a part of the ‘Sector Superstars’ model.

SUNFLAG, or Sunflag Iron and Steel Company Limited, which is engaged in manufacturing and selling special steel rolled products, was among the underperformers. The stock gave a negative 17.90% return as a part of the ‘Sector Superstars’ model.

TANLA, or Tanla Solutions Limited, is a telecom products and solutions company engaged in telecom infrastructure and related services. This stock was second in the list of underperformers, with a negative return of 14.44%, as a part of the ‘Buy High Sell Higher’ model.

Reads On The Internet:

After the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3, these stocks are flying to the Moon.

Some stocks, including MTAR, BHEL, Paras Defence, HAL, Aventel, and 5 others that were a part of this moon mission, gave double-digit returns as new investors pounced to invest in this theme.

The removal of Jio Financial Services Limited(JFSL) was delayed.

Jio Financial Services (JFSL) stock was supposed to be removed from all major indices like NSE & BSE. However, the plan was deferred to August 29th due to the consecutive lower circuits.

Consumer Stapes may be dearer to your wallet this festival season.

As per the Indian Meteorological Department, 270 districts have experienced deficit rainfall this year, which can impact crop yields. This might be an impact of the El Nino phenomenon, which will lead to a rise in consumer staples prices.

The export of Onions witnessed a 40% duty for the first time.

For the first time ever, the government has imposed a 40% export duty on Onions till 31st December 2023. This was done to increase domestic supply and reduce rising prices.

Reliance Industries may soon sell an 8-10% stake in Reliance Retail prior to its IPO

To make the IPO size manageable, Reliance Industries plans to offload close to a 10% stake in Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) in the next 12-15 months.

Reliance Retail launched ‘Yousta’, a fashion store to battle Zudio.

Reliance Retail, the retail arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd, launched a new youth-focused fashion retail store on Thursday named Yousta, where all the products will be priced below Rs 999.

With that said, enjoy this video of the Pragyan Rover landing on the Moon’s surface, taken by Vikram Lander, while we’ll see you next week.

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