Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks indices displayed a stupendous performance on sustained buying by participants and foreign fund inflows amid positive global cues. The benchmarks made a gap-up start and traded jubilantly in early deals with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 28,700 (Sensex) and 8,800 (Nifty) mark. Sentiments remained up-beat on report that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is targeting to roll out the ambitious GST on April 1 next year, has directed that all steps required in this direction should be completed before that date. He has also said that GST Council would need to have intensive meetings to be able to make timely recommendations relating to its mandate. Indian rupee opened higher and was trading up against the US dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market following selling of American currency by banks and exporters amid firm domestic equity markets. Investors also got some confidence with the report that India is expected to register a record food grain production during the 2016-17 crop year (July-June). The government has already set a target of 270.10 million tonnes of yield for the year, surpassing its previous record of 265.04 million tonnes in 2013-14. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 345 crore on September 15, 2016. However, some selling was witnessed in late afternoon session tracking European markets and on reports that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley pushed back against calls to increase the allocation of funds to recapitalize state banks saddled with $120 billion in sour loans.

On the global front, Asian markets ended higher; after weak US data it reduced the already low chance of an interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve next week. Japan’s government gave a weaker assessment of capital expenditure in September for the first time in 10 months, while giving an improved view on private consumption, reflecting the fragility of the world’s third largest economy. European stocks opened lower weighed by losses in the financial sector and as investors became more cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week. Financial stocks were mostly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale lost, while Germany’s Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank plummeted. Deutsche Bank was hit after the US Department of Justice asked the German lender to pay $14 billion to settle allegations of mis-selling mortgage securities.

Back home, stocks related to infra sector remained firm, as the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the government will soon launch three expressway projects - Delhi-Amritsar-Katra, Delhi-Jaipur and Vadodara-Mumbai- soon at a cost of about Rs 1,32,000 crore.

The BSE Sensex ended at 28597.60, up by 184.71 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 28494.59 and 28778.64. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.40%, while Small cap index was up by 0.19%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.36%, IT up by 1.11%, Oil & Gas up by 0.89%, TECK up by 0.85% and Auto up by 0.66% while, Metal down by 1.10% and Consumer Durables down by 0.26% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.31%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.06%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 1.80%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.78% and Axis Bank up by 1.77%.  (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.17%, Tata Motors down by 1.25%, HDFC down by 1.20%, Asian Paints down by 1.13% and ICICI Bank down by 1.07% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the government under its flagship Smart City Mission will be announcing the name of 27 more cities that will be developed as smart cities. The Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will be announcing the third set of smart cities next week. 

Till now, the government has announced 33 cities, wherein 20 cities were announced in the first and another 13 in the supplementary round, the cities would have facilities such as assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity and e-governance, among others. In total, the government aims to transform about 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Union government providing financial support of Rs 48,000 crore over five years.

The minister said that this is the first time that 500 cities and towns undertook a comprehensive analysis of the infrastructure deficiencies and prepared a details action plan for this. The purpose of the Smart Cities Mission is to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local area development and harnessing technology, especially technology that leads to Smart outcomes.

The CNX Nifty ended at 8780.80, up by 38.25 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 8750.50 and 8847.65. There were 33 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 2.72%, Grasim Industries up by 2.58%, ITC up by 2.46%, BPCL up by 2.09% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.96%.  (Provisional)

On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.91%, BHEL down by 2.26%, Tata Steel down by 1.97%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.96% and Hindalco down by 1.68% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 36.64 points or 0.35% to 10,394.56, France’s CAC decreased 13.5 points or 0.31% to 4,359.72, while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 10.04 points or 0.15% to 6,740.34.

The Asian markets ended higher on Friday, as a slew of weak US economic reports reduced the chances of a Federal Reserve rate hike next week. The markets in the region rebounded further following a sharp rise in Apple shares overnight, which boosted major US indexes. Though, overall gains remained capped somewhat outside Australia and India, as oil prices drifted lower in Asian deals on expectations of more supply from Nigeria and Libya, and the safe-haven Japanese yen firmed up ahead of BOJ's comprehensive review of its easing program. The markets in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan were closed were closed on account of National holiday.