Post Session: Quick Review

Today’s session turned out to be a disappointing day of trade for Indian equity benchmarks and ended with cut of around one percent. Discouraging earnings by some companies weighed on sentiments. Benchmark indices extended losses in later part of the day which dragged Nifty below 8350 mark due to sell-off in Metal, Power and PSU counter stocks, ahead of inauguration speech of Donald Trump as US president later today. The benchmarks made a weak start and traded in red in early deals following a private poll report that economy lost momentum in the final three months of 2016 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ban on high-value notes hurt consumption and businesses but it is set to pick up this quarter. Having posted growth of above 7 percent for six consecutive quarters, India’s gross domestic product is expected to have expanded just 6.5 percent in the October-December quarter - the weakest in nearly three years. Sentiments also remained subdued with ratings agency Fitch’s statement that it is less optimistic in their projections for the 27 Indian listed corporate they publicly rate. Stocks of IT and Pharma witnessed some pressure ahead of Donald Trump’s swearing-in as US President. The cautious sentiment in the market, coupled with talk of pricing pressure on Pharma and new H1B norms for IT companies affected these stocks. Mixed reactions was witnessed in cement counters with the competition watchdog holding seven cement companies guilty of bid rigging and cartelization and imposed a total fine of nearly Rs 206 crore on them. The companies are Shree Cement, UltraTech Cement, Jaiprakash Associates, JK Cement, Ambuja Cements, ACC and JK Lakshmi Cement. The ruling relates to a tender floated by a Haryana agency in 2012.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mixed, even as China’s fourth-quarter economic growth beat expectations and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen took a less hawkish policy stance. China’s economy grew a faster-than-expected 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter, boosted by higher government spending and record bank lending, giving it a solid tailwind heading into what is expected to be a turbulent 2017. Hong Kong stocks ended a thinly-traded week down and snapped three weeks of gains on Friday. European shares were trading mostly higher and were set for their biggest weekly loss since before Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November as investors steered clear of adding risk to portfolios ahead his inauguration.

The BSE Sensex ended at 27021.90, down by 286.70 points or 1.05% after trading in a range of 27012.72 and 27264.41. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.56%, while Small cap index was down by 1.33%. (Provisional)

The sole gainer sectoral index on the BSE was FMCG up by 0.07%, while Metal down by 2.24%, Power down by 1.96%, PSU down by 1.95%, Realty down by 1.88% and Bankex down by 1.76% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.25%, ITC up by 0.59%, Asian Paints up by 0.52%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.16% and HDFC up by 0.12%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 7.26%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 3.41%, SBI down by 2.71%, Tata Steel down by 2.48% and Larsen & Toubro down by 2.32% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, accelerating efforts towards digital payments, union minister for electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that the government is now going to introduce a new Aadhaar-based digital payment system for the common man soon. He also said that after the demonetisation of high-value currency it is subsequent digital push.

Prasad said that this unique payment initiative will be based on the thumb impression, verified through the Aadhaar identification for safety and security of the easier payment system for the common man. He also confirmed that Aadhaar has already enrolled around 99 percent of adult citizens of the country. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted Digital India to bridge the digital divide and empower the poor and under-privileged.

The minister had earlier said that Aadhaar based payments can be all pervasive way of digital transactions since it doesn't require everyone to have a Smartphone and added that all people need to remember their Aadhaar number and authenticate themselves through their biometrics.

The CNX Nifty ended at 8343.85, down by 91.25 points or 1.08% after trading in a range of 8340.95 and 8423.65. There were 9 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Idea Cellular up by 2.88%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.14%, Yes Bank up by 1.00%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.68% and ITC up by 0.41%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 7.23%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 3.84%, Bank of Baroda down by 3.78%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.96% and SBI down by 2.77% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in green; Germany’s DAX increased 2.14 points or 0.02% to 11,599.03, France’s CAC increased 1.75 points or 0.04% to 4,842.89, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 4.69 points or 0.07% to 7,203.75.

Asian equity markets ended mixed on Friday ahead of the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump later in the day. Investors digested a raft of Chinese economic data, dovish comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech in California about the state of the US economy. Japanese stocks though edged up as investors covered their short positions, but gains were tempered and volume was low as markets remained cautious ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration. Chinese stocks ended a volatile week on an upbeat note as main indexes rose after data showing faster-than-expected economic growth fuelled blue-chips, while a surge in small-caps erased most of the losses earlier in the week.