Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended the volatile trade in green amid a hint of rate hike by Fed officials. Benchmarks made a cautious start taking cues from weak global market after Janet Yellen and Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer hinted for a rate hike but didn’t give a timeline for the same. Some selling crept in after Indian rupee opened lower against US dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market as demand for the American currency rose among importers and banks. Dollar strengthening against other emerging market currencies also supported the rupee’s fall. The anxiety among the investors also increased after financial services major Goldman Sachs marginally revised upwards its India CPI forecast to 5.5% for the fiscal citing higher food prices but said the upside risks are limited due to delay in the rollout of the pay commission award. According to the global major, narrowing of the output gap and abating favourable base effects from weak commodity prices may lead to a rise in inflation. The markets erased looses and traded in green in late afternoon session hovering near the highest point of the day on reports that the government is considering an early Winter Session of Parliament advanced by a fortnight to pass the landmark Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bills, leaving adequate time for execution of the new indirect tax regime. Winter Session of Parliament is usually in the third or fourth week of November but this year the government is looking at beginning the month-long session quickly after the end of festive season. Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das stated that India is expected to clock a GDP growth of nearly 8% this fiscal on the back of good monsoon rains. He said that Agriculture production is expected to be much better than previous two years and definitely agriculture will contribute significantly to the GDP.

On the global front, Asian shares ended mostly lower excluding Japan stocks which closed higher as gains in the Shipbuilding, Glass and Automobiles & Parts sectors led shares higher. China’s cabinet think-tank stated that the country urgently needs to transform its economy by implementing supply-side and structural reforms. China needs to focus on structural reforms including reducing government bureaucracy and reforming state-owned enterprises, as well as the fiscal, tax and financial systems. European stocks were lower as markets were still digesting remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen made on Friday.

Back home, the benchmarks continued its firm trade on account of buying in front line counters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to see visible change in the existing system of governance and has asked ministers and bureaucrats to accelerate the implementation of transformative reforms. Modi wants to mobilize the bureaucracy for hastening implementation and bringing about structural reforms.

The BSE Sensex ended at 27902.66, up by 120.41 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 27698.71 and 27952.85. 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 0.49%, while Small cap index was up by 0.09%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.44%, Capital Goods up by 1.17%, Metal up by 1.07%, Oil & Gas up by 0.38% and PSU up by 0.26%, while IT down by 0.89%, Realty down by 0.81%, TECK down by 0.59% and FMCG down by 0.22% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 4.16%, Reliance Industries up by 3.13%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.81%, Adani Ports &Special up by 2.31% and ICICI Bank up by 2.06%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.85%, Lupin down by 2.19%, HDFC Bank down by 1.44%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.38% and Asian Paints down by 1.17% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, coal imports during the month of July decreased by 11.14% to 18.03 million tonnes, as against 20.29 MT during the same month last year due to higher domestic availability of fossil fuel. According to mjunction services, an online procurement and sales platform jointly floated by SAIL and Tata Steel, of the total coal imported, non-coking coal was highest at 12.39 MT, followed by coking coal at 3.76 MT, pet coke at 1.05 MT, among others.

CEO and MD of mjunction services Viresh Oberoi has said that the decline in July imports this year against last year can be attributed to number of factors, including monsoon, when imports generally come down. Firmness in international coal prices since beginning of June and higher availability of domestic coal also impacted imports. Further he said that with many imported coal-based load power plants operating at lower utilisation, the overall volume of imports is likely to remain flat.

The government had earlier said that coal imports will further come down in the ongoing fiscal on account of increased domestic output. Imports in May declined by 19.2 per cent to 16.38 MT and in April fell by 15 per cent to 15.9 MT. Further, Coal India (CIL), which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic output, has set the output target at 598 MT for current financial year.

The CNX Nifty ended at 8619.20, up by 46.65 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 8543.75 and 8622.00. There were 33 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 5.20%, Tata Motors up by 4.27%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.27%, Reliance Industries up by 3.05% and Hindalco up by 2.48%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 2.75%, Wipro down by 2.45%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.35%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.15% and Lupin down by 2.12% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 81.15 points or 0.77% to 10,506.62 and France’s CAC decreased 43.84 points or 0.99% to 4,398.03.

Asian equity markets ended mostly lower on Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted in her speech at the annual Jackson Hole conference that a rise in interest rates could be on the cards soon in the midst of an improving US economy. While Yellen's remarks raised the odds of a rate increase at the September FOMC meeting, many market participants now look ahead to this week's US jobs report for clues on the pace and timing of future rate hikes. Chinese shares ended on a flat note, as gains in industrial stocks offset weakness in the banking sector as a slew of interim corporate results showed tentative signs of bottoming-out in struggling sectors such as coal and steel. However, Japanese shares bucked the trend and hit a 1-1/2 week high, as the yen weakened against the resurgent dollar after comments from BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda that the central bank will not hesitate to expand stimulus if needed at the Jackson Hole Symposium over the weekend.