Weekly movers: Hits and misses in the large-cap space during the week!

Here’s a list of the top 5 gainers and losers this week in the large-cap space.

Countries across the globe continue to fight the same battle, which is taming the inflation monster. While this situation has been persisting for quite some time now, all eyes are set on the emergence of a new problem - Recession. The central banks are carefully treading on the tightrope of curbing inflation whilst not hurting their economic growth. Much to their dismay, it seems like countries can have only one of the two.

Yesterday, on 15 December, the US Fed increased its benchmark interest rates by 0.50%. With this hike, the interest rates now stand at a 15-year high. Further, the US Fed projected at least an additional 75 basis points of increases in borrowing costs by the end of 2023, as well as an increase in unemployment and a near halting of economic growth.

In a similar move, the Bank of England hiked its benchmark interest rate by 0.5% to a 14-year high of 3.5%. The country reported a decline of 0.3% in GDP between August and October.

Likewise, the Reserve Bank of India announced a rate hike of 0.35%. The persistent rate hikes might hurt demand. For instance, India’s industrial production contracted by 4% in October, signifying a 26-month low. Apparently, the slowdown in exports along with weak consumption demand is to be blamed.

Looking at the silver lining, the rate hikes are bringing the inflation levels down. To illustrate, India’s Wholesale Price Index (WPI), which gauges wholesale inflation, eased to a 21-month low of 5.85% in November. This came on the back of a fall in prices of food articles, basic metals, textiles, chemicals & chemical products and paper & paper products. Even retail inflation, measured by Consumer Price Index (CPI) eased to an 11-month low of 5.88%.

Coming to Indian equity markets, in the last 5 trading sessions, the frontline index S&P BSE Sensex declined by 0.62%, going from the level of 62,181.67 on 09 December to 61,799.03 on 15 December. Similarly, the NIFTY declined by 0.44%, going from 18,496.6 on 09 December to 18,414.9 on 15 December.

On the sectoral front, similar to last week, banking stocks have exhibited strong performance. This could be linked to RBI’s announcement of an upward revision in the Repo Rate on 06 December, following which, many banks announced a revision in their interest rates.

Let us have a look at the top gainers and losers in the large-cap space during the last 5 trading sessions (between 09 December and 15 December).