Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets that traded on a firm note in early deals taking cues from global markets, traded in green throughout the day, with benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty closing around their 52-week high. The Sensex hits its highest level since August 01, 2016, while Nifty hits its highest level since April 16, 2015. The sentiments got boosted after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Indian economy has defied global slowdown and geo-political tensions and is now poised to seize the opportunity to grow faster. Investors’ morale remained upbeat after Moody's Investors Service stated that Indian government’s targeting of inflation at four percent with a range of plus/minus two percent is a credit positive measure that will help macroeconomic stability. According to Moody’s, sustained moderate inflation would contribute to macroeconomic stability and help prevent a repetition of the short marked cycles of the past.  Meanwhile, some support also came with a joint study by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) stating that the overall financial conditions index in India rose 28 percent sequentially to 61.1 percent in the first quarter of 2016-17 from 47.8 percent in the previous quarter of 2015-16, indicating healthy improvement. The market is eyeing Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy review scheduled on Tuesday as this will be governor’s Raghuram Rajan’s last meet before his tenure ends in next month.

On the global front, Asian shares closed in green, despite China reporting a fall in exports for the month of July. Data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed that imports fell 12.5% year-on-year, missing expectations of a 7% fall. European stocks climbed, with gains for bank shares helping to push the regional benchmark toward a nearly two-week high.

Back home, the firm trade continued on the street. Oil producing companies managed to clock some gains despite reports that government may cut gas price for producers by 20% in October. The price of natural gas produced from existing fields of ONGC and RIL is likely to fall to $2.45 per million British thermal unit with effect from October 1 as opposed to $3.06 currently. The steel sector stocks were mostly under pressure as India’s steel consumption declined for the second-straight month in July falling over 7 percent to 6.3 million tonnes (MT) as compared to June. According to the latest data from the Joint Plant Committee (JPC), part of the Steel Ministry, the consumption in July 2016 (6.289 MT) was up by 1.1 percent over July 2015 but was down (by 7.4 percent) over June 2016.

The BSE Sensex ended at 28139.22, up by 60.87 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 28131.64 and 28226.38. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.88%, while Small cap index was up by 0.63%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.36%, Power up by 0.75%, Metal up by 0.62%, Auto up by 0.60% and Realty up by 0.56%, while Bankex down by 0.12% and Capital Goods down by 0.06% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 2.95%, HDFC up by 1.70%, Reliance Industries up by 1.31%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.11% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.10%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.61%, NTPC down by 1.12%, Sun Pharma down by 1.11%, ITC down by 0.64% and ICICI Bank down by 0.47% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog has identify eight sick unit out of 74 loss-making public sector unit (PSUs) and suggested government  for closure or sell-off, after  finding them unfit for revival. Once the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) gives the in-principle approval to the proposal, the ministry responsible for administration of these PSUs will make detail plan for closer of these units. The detailed plan will include identification of assets to be liquidated and the compensation for employees of these eight companies.

Earlier, PMO had asked the Niti Aayog to identify one sick PSU, along with a detailed plan for its sell-off or eventual liquidation, before moving on to other such cases. The Aayog had submitted two separate lists of sick and loss-making PSUs- one comprising those that can be closed down and the other of those where government can divest its stake. The government aims to collect Rs. 56,500 crore through disinvestment in PSUs this fiscal. Of the total budgeted proceeds, Rs. 36,000 crore is estimated to come from minority stake sale in PSUs and the remaining Rs. 20,500 crore from strategic sale in both profit and loss-making companies.

The CNX Nifty ended at 8700.25, up by 17.10 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 8697.60 and 8723.50. There were 34 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.65%, BPCL up by 3.15%, Adani Ports & Special Economic zone up by 2.78%, Tata Power up by 2.32% and Bosch up by 1.81%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.63%, Idea Cellular down by 3.06%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.07%, NTPC down by 1.21% and ITC down by 1.17% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 6.5 points or 0.1% to 6,799.97, France’s CAC increased 17.92 points or 0.41% to 4,428.47 and Germany’s DAX increased 81.19 points or 0.78% to 10,448.40.

Asian equity markets ended higher on Monday, buoyed by gains on Wall Street, following Friday’s upbeat US non-farm payrolls report, which showed that non-farm payroll employment surged up by 255,000 jobs in July after jumping by an upwardly revised 292,000 jobs in June, providing further evidence of the strength of the country's labor market. The jobs report boosted the odds of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase this year, but many believe the Fed would wait for GDP growth to improve and inflation to move closer to its 2 percent target before pulling the trigger on a rate hike. Japanese shares received some boost from a relatively weaker yen after a strong US jobs report, lifted exporters' shares. Further, Chinese shares ended higher as a surge in coal stocks and sustained interest in property shares offset the impact of worse than expected trade data. Official data on Monday showed China’s July exports in dollar terms were down 4.4% from a year earlier, following a decline of 4.8% in June.