Post Session: Quick Review

Indian markets witnessed another down day on Thursday with benchmarks losing about half a percent. Traders not only ignored some positive comments of international agencies but also remained unconvinced about the sharp rebound in the Chinese market. The domestic traders preferred being on sidelines ahead of the official start of the first quarter earnings season, with IT behemoth TCS scheduled to announce its earnings after the market hours. Not only TCS but the whole IT pack remained under pressure throughout the day. Meanwhile, the Paris-based think tank OECD based on its latest report stated that India is seeing 'stable growth momentum' even as economic activities are expected to slow down in China, the US and many other major economies.

On the global front, while the US markets plunged, the Asian markets ended mostly in green led by the smart rebound in the Chinese markets after the regulators there took more measures arrest a selloff that has erased more than $3.9 trillion of value in the past few weeks. The European markets too made a positive start taking cues from China, although the Greek concern continued, with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras having until midnight Thursday to present his European colleagues with a plan that includes spending cuts to secure a bailout. 

Back home, the market showed an extremely choppy trade, with markets giving up early gains and slipping into red in the very first hour. In the early trade some support came with Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the government was closely monitoring the Greek crisis and prepared to face any situation in view of its 'comfortable' foreign exchange reserves. The benchmarks once after losing their crucial levels of  27700 (Sensex) and 8350 (Nifty), faced stiff resistance in reclaiming them despite trading in a tight band. The rupee appreciation too was unable to give any respite. Recovering from a two-day fall, rupee strengthened on Thursday after minutes from the recent Federal Reserve policy meeting showed that US policy makers remained cautious about the world's largest economy. The broader markets that resisted the pressure for most part of the day too fell in last. On sectoral front auto sector ended in red, despite Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) report that domestic passenger car sales rose 1.53 percent to 1,62,677 units in June from 1,60,232 units in the year-ago month, while Motorcycle sales last month rose marginally to 8,77,696 units from 8,77,289 units a year earlier. PSU oil marketing companies suffered some profit taking after the crude oil prices bounced on strong economic data from Japan and Germany, and as Chinese stocks picked up after the government launched new steps to halt a rout in its share markets. BPCL was down by over 5%, HPCL and IOC lost over 2%.

The BSE Sensex ended at 27575.01, down by 112.71 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 27540.60 and 27798.13. 11 stocks advanced against 19 declining stocks on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices too ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.25%, while Small cap index lost 0.28%. (Provisional)

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.99%, Power up by 0.46%, Bankex up by 0.16%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.87%, IT down by 1.76%, TECK down by 1.42%, FMCG down by 0.66%, Auto down by 0.59% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 3.31%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.53%, Hindalco up by 2.31%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.18% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 5.00%, TCS down by 2.66%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.59%, Tata Motors down by 1.76% and Wipro down by 1.74% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, global rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) latest report - 'Asia-Pacific Could Be Entering A Steady State Of Slower Growth', is likely to boost the sapping morale of the investors and the government, as it has said that the confidence level in India continues to grow amid indications of slower growth ahead for the Asia-Pacific region.

S&P stated that 'In India, confidence continues to rise despite concerns about investment quality. It added that our forecasts of 7.4 percent growth for 2015 and 8.2 percent for 2016 are the highest in the region.”

It was highlighted that China's property market correction continues to be the region's main risk, with growth forecasts for China in 2015 and 2016 remaining unchanged at 6.8 per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively, with the risks still slanted toward the downside. The report also said that the incipient recovery in the US, particularly for durable goods consumption, has yet to lead to a sustained export bounce in Asia-Pacific.

The report however stated that the Asia-Pacific growth story is not all gloom and doom and the pace of activity is picking up in Japan, the agency said it has raised its forecasts to 0.9 per cent for 2015 and 1.3 per cent for 2016.

The CNX Nifty ended at 8335.20, down by 27.85 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 8323.00 and 8400.30. There were 22 stocks on gainers side against 28 stocks on the decliners side on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 3.40% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.39% and Hindalco up by 2.31% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.23% and ACC up by 1.79%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 5.15%, Vedanta down by 4.63%, TCS down by 2.53%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.39% and Cairn India down by 1.82% were the top losers.(Provisional)

European Markets were trading in green, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 60.54 points or 0.93% to 6,551.24, France’s CAC was higher by 86.49 points or 1.86% to 4,725.51 and Germany’s DAX surged by178.76 points or 1.66% to 10,926.06.