Investors lose over Rs 6.71 lakh cr as markets crash Equity investors became poorer by over Rs 6.71 lakh crore on Thursday as domestic benchmark indices tumbled amid a global market meltdown.The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex tanked 1,416.30 points or 2.61 per cent to settle at 52,792.23, tracking weak global markets and persistent foreign fund outflows. In line with the weak market trend, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms tumbled by Rs 6,71,051.73 crore to stand at Rs 2,49,06,394.08 crore. “Till the time FIIs remain net sellers, the south-bound journey will be difficult to reverse,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd. From the Sensex firms, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major laggards.ITC, Dr Reddy’s and PowerGrid were the only gainers. Barring Shanghai, other Asian markets ended lower, with Seoul, Hong Kong and Tokyo losing up to 2.54 per cent.Equity exchanges in Europe were also trading sharply lower in the afternoon session. Stock markets in the US had ended deep in the red on Wednesday.Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.27 per cent to USD 107.7 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors remained in selling mode, offloading shares worth a net Rs 1,254.64 crore on Wednesday, as per stock exchange data.“Markets plunged sharply lower and lost over 2.6 per cent, pressurised by weak global cues. The meltdown in the US markets, on fear of aggressive rate hikes, rattled investors and triggered a weak start. “The situation worsened further due to heavy selling in the index majors across sectors wherein IT and metal majors were among the top losers,” said Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd.
Retail inflation in milk was reported at 8.85% in May 2023. The milk inflation has remained elevated at over 6% since August 2022. Despite India being the largest milk producer since 1998, the commodity has been the second biggest factor after cereals such as rice and wheat in driving up retail inflation in the last fiscal.
Milk has the second highest weight in the food and beverages basket of the consumer price index at 6.61%, a notch lower than cereals and products with a 9.67% weight. Organised players, including Mother Dairy and Amul, hiked prices multiple times in the last one year citing higher fodder cost, robust demand and some impact due to reports of lumpy skin disease.
Industry sources said feed cost, which has a share of more than 65% in the cost of production of milk, has increased to Rs 20/kg from Rs 8 a year ago. The finance ministry in April had attributed the elevated milk inflation to a demand supply mismatch and said it could be one of the factors apart from volatile international crude oil prices and constrained supplies of milk would influence the country’s inflation trajectory.
“Milk production has been impacted by a lumpy skin disease infecting millions of cattle in late 2022,” the ministry said in the monthly economic review, adding that the vaccination drive against the disease is expected to curb the spread and immune the cattle against the skin disease.
According to official data, currently India is the world’s largest milk producer, and has a share of 23% in global milk production. For the first time in decades, the country’s milk production is likely to have stagnated in 2022-23 due to Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle across several states and the lagged effect of Covid-19 in the form of stunting of the animals, a senior official with department of animal husbandry and dairying recently had stated. The milk production was estimated at 221 million tonne in 2021-22.