The Indian markets made a cautious start of the F&O expiry week and major indices snapped their five days gaining streak. Today, the start is likely to be flat-to-positive ahead of the FOMC meet starting today. However, traders will be getting some support with a World Bank report saying that India’s GDP is likely to expand by 5.6 per cent this fiscal as reforms gain momentum and the growth is expected to accelerate as proposed measures such as GST will give a boost to manufacturing sector. World Bank has also said that implementation of the goods and service tax (GST) is the most critical reform needed for Indian manufacturing. Today, there is likely to be buzz in the PSU banking stocks as the government has scrapped the selection of six PSU bank heads during UPA tenure following a high-level panel finding irregularities in the process followed. There will be some action in power stocks too, as the Ministry of Power has floated a Cabinet note seeking approval to meet requirements of generators whose linked blocks are to be de-allocated by March 31, 2015, to ensure continued fuel supply to coal-based power plants.
There will be lots of important result announcements too, to keep the markets buzzing. ABB, CCL, ING Vysya Bank, Lupin, Nestle, Ranbaxy, SRF etc will be reporting their numbers today.
The US markets ended almost flat, trading directionless for much of the trading session. While there was some profit taking on the strong performance shown by the markets last week, the traders also remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Asian markets have once again made a mixed start tailing cues from the US markets where data from home sales to manufacturing fell short of estimates.
Back home, snapping five days winning streak, Indian equity benchmarks ended the Monday’s trade in red terrain with frontline gauges declining below their crucial 8,000 (Nifty) and 26,800 (Sensex) levels as investors remained on sidelines at the start of October F&O expiry week. Much of the selling crept into the market in the final hour of trade even as bourses flip-flopped between green and red territory in afternoon deals. Sentiments remained dampened on reports that foreign direct investment (FDI) in India’s services sector has declined by 9% to $1.08 billion during the April-August period of the ongoing fiscal as compared to $1.19 billion during the first five months of the previous fiscal. Indian services sector, which includes banking, insurance, outsourcing, R&D, courier and technology testing, represents around 60% share of the country’s GDP. Selling got intensified in last leg of trade after European equity indices turned lower with a closely-watched German economic report coming in weaker than expected, while the Asian markets ended mixed Back home, depreciation in Indian rupee dampened the sentiments. Rupee was trading at 60.34 per dollar at the time of equity markets closing compared with its previous close of 61.31. Sentiments also remained dampened on reports that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 12.38 crore on Thursday. Meanwhile, services oriented sector edged lower as foreign direct investment in the services sector dipped by 9 percent to $1.08 billion during the April-August period of FY15. On the flip side, coal and power related stocks remained on buyers’ radar as the Coal Ministry is gearing up to prepare the modalities of the proposed e-auction of coal blocks that may take place in January next year. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined by 98.15 points or 0.37%, to 26752.90, while the CNX Nifty lost 22.85 points or 0.29% to 7,991.70.
