Post Session: Quick Review

Extending their previous session southward journey, Indian barometer gauges witnessed blood bath with both the major indices losing over half a percent and ending below their crucial 7,750 (Nifty) and 25,500 (Sensex) levels. After trading in tight band for most part of the day’s trade, domestic gauges crashed like house of card in the last leg of trade as investors turned cautious after China allowed the yuan to weaken further, stoking fears that the world’s second-biggest economy could be even weaker than feared. Sentiments also remained dampened after North Korea successfully conducted a test of a miniaturised hydrogen nuclear device, marking a significant advance in the isolated state's strike capabilities and raising alarm bells in Japan and South Korea.

Marketmen failed to get any sense of relief from report that growth in India’s services firms rose at its fastest pace in 10 months in December as demand picked up. The Nikkei/Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) surged to 53.6 in December from November's 50.1, marking a sixth month above the 50-level that separates growth from contraction.

Selling got accelerated after European counters making a weak start with all CAC, DAAX and FTSE were declining around a percent weighed down by commodity stocks after the devaluation of the Chinese yuan raised growth concerns in the world’s second largest economy while the further slide in Dow futures also dampened sentiment. Asian markets ended mostly in red, while Chinese stocks rebounding after losses in the previous three sessions.

Back home, selling was both brutal and wide-based as none of sectoral indices, barring energy and oil and gas, on BSE were spared. Counters, which featured in the list of worst performers, include consumer durables down, FMCG, Metal and Auto. Sentiments also remained dampened on report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth net Rs 352.42 crore on January, 5 2016, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Depreciation in Indian rupee too weighed down sentiments. The rupee was down by 21 paise at 66.81 against the American currency at the time of equity markets closing on sustained bouts of dollar demand from importers amid volatile equities.

Metal stocks witnessed profit taking after sharp gains in the previous session. Telecom stocks remained under pressure, as the Delhi High Court is likely to pronounce its order on compensation for call drops later today. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has asked operators to pay a compensation of Re one for every call drop, maximum three calls per day per mobile user, starting January 1. Bucking the trend, stocks related to oil and gas sector edged higher as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed on taking a 'fresh look' at the petroleum sector during a meeting with global oil and gas experts, to bring in investment, technological upgradation and development of human resource.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty tumbled by over forty points to end below the psychological 7,750 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex declined by over one hundred and seventy points to finish below its psychological 25,500 mark. Broader markets too struggled to get any traction and ended the session with a cut of around half a percent.

The market breadth remained in favor of decliners, as there were 1,407 shares on the gaining side against 1407 shares on the losing side while 113 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 25406.33, down by 174.01 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 25357.70 and 25632.57. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.29%, while Small cap index down by 0.42%. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.76% and Energy up by 1.42%, while FMCG down by 1.57%, Metal down by 1.48%, Capital Goods down by 1.32%, Auto down by 1.24%,  Industrials down by 1.09% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.38%, Cipla up by 1.40%, TCS up by 1.30%, HDFC Bank up by 0.59% and Coal India up by 0.57%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.86%, Tata Motors down by 2.58%, ICICI Bank down by 2.53%, ONGC down by 2.34% and Tata Steel down by 2.21% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the commerce and industry ministry in its meeting with representatives of industry chambers on January 7 will take up the issues related to manufacturing sector and improving ease of doing business. The meeting assumes significance against the backdrop of declining exports and contraction in the core sector industries.

The meeting will be chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Representatives from industry bodies including CII and Ficci will attend the meet. Further in the meeting, there will be presentations on Make in India, Start-Up India and Ease of Doing business. After the presentations, issues related to these areas will be discussed between the ministry and industry chambers.

Contracting for twelve months in a row, India’s exports plunged 24 percent in November to $20 million. The significant fall in exports is attributed to weak global demand, amid a tepid global economic recovery. Similarly, in its worst performance in seven months, output of the eight core sectors contracted by 1.3 per cent in November from the year-ago period on account of a sharp drop in steel, cement and crude oil production.

The CNX Nifty ended at 7741.00, down by 43.65 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 7721.20 and 7800.95. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 2.69%, Cipla up by 1.76%, TCS up by 1.39%, BPCL up by 1.07% and Indusind Bank up by 0.93%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.79%, ITC down by 3.00%, ICICI Bank down by 2.57%, Hindalco down by 2.48% and Tata Motors down by 2.28% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 88.32 points or 0.86% to 10,221.78, UK’s FTSE 100 declined 52.97 points or 0.86% to 6,084.27 and France’s CAC was down by 32.56 points or 0.72% to 4,505.07.

Asian equity markets ended mostly in red on Wednesday as a nuclear test by North Korea heightened concerns for investors already fretting over the slowdown in China. North Korea confirmed today that it carried out a nuclear test, claiming it was a hydrogen bomb detonation. The announcement followed a 5.1-magnitude earthquake that was detected at North Korea's nuclear test site. Japanese shares fell for a third day after oil resumed declines and the yen vaulted to a near three-month high against the dollar in the wake of weak economic data from China and rising tensions in the Middle East. However, China stocks ended higher, led by a surge in resources shares, on hopes that regulators will extend a ban on share sales by major stakeholders as Beijing scrambled to avert a potential repeat of last summer's market crash.