Post Session: Quick Review

The Indian markets extending their bull run logged fresh record highs on Monday with Nifty and Sensex both rallying past their crucial levels of 8500 and 28500 respectively intraday and Nifty closed above 8500 for the first time. Benchmarks which after a good start showed a steady trend till noon, suddenly picked up pace in second half to surge to fresh highs, though there was some profit booking too, in the final hours, still the major indices managed to close the session with notable gains of over half a percent. 

The global cues were the major propeller of the domestic markets today, as all the major indices in the Asian region surged with some even gaining over a percent after China went for a surprise rate cut, the first in more than two years, reflecting a change of course by Beijing and the central bank, from a previously persisting modest stimulus policy. The rate cut in China has spurred hopes that other regions like EU might too reduce some rates which can lead to fund flows into equities. On the same time the European stocks extended gains to a two-month high as lenders rallied on speculation the European Central Bank will step up stimulus.

Back home, the market mood remained jubilant throughout the session and apart from the global cues the domestic developments too supported the major indices to move higher. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Budget 2015-16 would unveil “a whole set of second-generation reforms” as well as reforms that require undoing. He pointed that a rational and reasonable tax regime is undoing thing. Some procedure changes in the land (acquisition) law is an undoing, with government all set to table insurance amendment Bill and Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the insuing winter session of parliament. Meanwhile, the Finance Minister also expressed its intent to embrace a benign, predictable and pragmatic tax policy and said that unsustainable tax demands will earn the country a bad name in the comity of global investors. Back on street while metal stocks surged taking cues from the Chinese rate cuts, the IT sector stocks moved higher on European Central Bank President’s stimulus hints and after US President Barak Obama’s immigration actions. However, the gains in metals and information technology shares were somehow negated by losses in select index heavyweights like Reliance, ONGC and Bharti.

The BSE Sensex last traded at 28499.54, up by 164.91 points or 0.58% after moving in a range of 28394.48 and 28541.96. There were 17 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.07%, while Small cap index declined by 0.06%.(Provisional)

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.86%, Metal up by 1.64%, Realty up by 1.62%, TECK up by 1.40%, Bankex up by 1.18%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.73%, FMCG down by 0.25% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 4.14%, Hindalco up by 3.37%, Infosys up by 3.08%, Tata Steel up by 3.00% and ICICI Bank up by 2.25%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.29%, Reliance Industries down by 1.29%, ONGC down by 0.76%, Tata Motors down by 0.73% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.69% were the top losers. (Provisional)

According to the Industry body FICCI, Indian manufacturing sector is likely to witness a moderate growth in the third quarter of current fiscal. FICCI Manufacturing Survey highlighted that firms are less optimistic for Q3FY15 than Q2FY15 for the manufacturing sector as the proportion of respondents expecting higher production vis-a-vis last year has fallen to 52% in Q3 from 62% in Q2. However, the growth is likely to be more broad based during the reported quarter as most of the sectors are expecting improvement in production.

The Survey further highlighted that export outlook for manufacturing during Q3 has improved slightly from the previous two quarters but it remains weak and uncertain. The proportion of respondents expecting higher exports in Q3FY15 is 42% compared to 40% in the Q2FY15 and 36% in the first quarter of FY15. Hiring outlook also remains bleak as 73% of respondents are not likely to hire additional workforce in the next three months.

The FICCI Survey has covered 392 manufacturing units from both large and SME segments with a combined annual turnover of over Rs 4 lakh crore. The survey gauges the expectations of manufacturers for thirteen major sectors that include textiles, capital goods, metals, chemicals and cement among others.

The output of manufacturing sector, which occupies 75.52% weightage in the overall index, grew by 2.5% in September. The cumulative growth of country’s manufacturing sector during April-September FY15 stood at 2.0% as compared to 0.2% growth in the same period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty last traded at 8530.15, up by 52.80 points or 0.62% after moving in a range of 8490.80 and 8534.65. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were DLF up by 5.06%, Jindal Steel & Power up by 4.23%, Tata Power up by 4.20%, Hindalco up by 3.34% and Infosys up by 3.11%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation was down by 2.80%, Cipla down by 1.42%, Reliance Industries down by 1.24%, ACC down by 0.94% and Tata Motors down by 0.87% were the top losers. (Provisional)

All the Asian equity benchmarks barring, Straits Times, ended higher on Monday as sentiments remained up-beat by an unexpected rate cut announcement from the Chinese central bank last Friday. The People’s Bank of China cut one-year benchmark lending rates by 40 basis points to 5.6 percent. Moreover, China’s leadership and central bank are ready to cut interest rates again and also loosen lending restrictions, concerned that falling prices could trigger a surge in debt defaults, business failures and job losses. Recovery in commodity prices and comments from the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi that more stimulus is likely from the ECB to spur eurozone economic growth are also aiding sentiment. The Japanese market remained shut for the trade today for Labour Thanksgiving Day Holiday.