Sensex Up 100 Points; FMCG Stocks Witness Buying

Stock markets in India are presently trading marginally higher. Sectoral indices are trading on a positive note with stocks in the healthcare sector and FMCG sector witnessing maximum buying interest. Telecom stocks are trading in the red.

The BSE Sensex is trading up 100 points (up 0.3%) and the NSE Nifty is trading flat. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.5%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.6%. The rupee is trading at 65.07 to the US dollar.

In the news from global financial markets, President Donald Trump has said he will reveal his choice to lead the Federal Reserve by November 3^rd.

As per the news, Trump has largely settled on nominating either former investment banker Jerome Powell or Stanford University economist John Taylor to be chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Note that the Fed is going to meet next on November 1^st, where it will decide to raise interest rates or keep them unchanged.

While the Fed kept interest rate unchanged at its last policy meeting, it indicated a hike by the end of this year.

With the US economy chugging along for many months, the Fed is now gradually easing off the stimulus it provides to the economy by raising interest rates to more normal levels.

Yet, so far, the cost of lending has been slow to respond to the interest rate increases. But as the Fed continues with this policy, consumers who borrow to buy houses, cars, refrigerators, and other items will have to pay more for those goods.

US Federal Reserve rate hikes generally have a negative impact on emerging economies. But currently, India is seen as better equipped than other emerging markets to ride the impact of higher US interest rates on the back of stronger economic growth.

In the news from commodity markets, gold is witnessing selling pressure this week, as can be seen from the chart below.

Gold Continues Downtrend